Contesting EU Values: Deliberation, Legal Integrity, and the Rule of Law

Abstract

This panel investigates the contestation of European Union values as enshrined in Article 2 TEU, with a particular focus on the rule of law, deliberation, and legal integrity under conditions of democratic backsliding and increasing political polarization. While EU values have long been treated as shared normative foundations of the integration project, recent developments reveal their growing fragility and the limits of existing enforcement and promotion mechanisms. The panel brings together contributions from EU law, political theory, deliberative democracy, and argumentation studies to examine how these values are interpreted, defended, and strategically contested across institutional and discursive arenas.

Title	Details
Deliberation Under Pressure: Rethinking Deliberative Mini-Publics in Contexts of Backsliding	View Paper Details
The Imperative of Consistency: Upholding the Rule of Law as a Non‑Negotiable Condition of EU Membership	View Paper Details
EU Value Champions? EU Leaders and the Promotion of Article 2 TEU Values	View Paper Details
A Balancing Act: Suspending Mutual Trust Without Upending the European Arrest Warrant	View Paper Details
The European Culture War and the Argumentation Theorist as War Journalist	View Paper Details