Hope and Law in the European Union

This paper explores the relationship between law and hope taking the European Union (EU) as a case study. The question I am posing is to what extent can law provide a framework within which individual hope can be (a) realised, (b) be collectivised to a group(s), and (c) aligned with societal values as articulated in foundational legal texts? The legal context for this analysis is EU Law, in particular the aspirational nature of the treaties as foundational texts. The treaties like most state constitutions, contain preambles that are strongly aspirational, while the assertion of EU rights and access to the CJEU may allow realisation of hopes. The paper first explores what is hope.; how hope differs from optimism, what is the opposite of hope. In doing so, it mainly relies on the literature on the psychology of hope and by referring to the recognition of the right to hope in ECHR case law. It then turns to the EU as an aspirational project before and the extent to which hope is/is not reflected in its foundational texts.