Kühnhardt Ludger – Professor, Director at the Centre for European Integration Studies (ZEI), University of Bonn.
The essay discusses the implications of the 2009 elections to the European Parliament. In the connotation of the links of these elections to the overall reform process of the EU author also puts the ruling of the German Constitutional Court on the Lisbon Treaty in the centre of his analysis. He broadens the perspective by discussing the basis of today’s political identity in the EU that claims to be a community of values. While the EU agrees on matters related to Europe's past (no more war, no more totalitarian rule, protection of human rights, rule of law, democracy, market economy), the EU actors are divided in their understanding of major values relevant to the current agenda of European politics and societal development. Author concludes by discussing the potential for finding common ground in the challenges facing the EU today that is in the age of globalization.
European Union, elections in European Parliament, reforms, German Constitution Court, European identity, European values.
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