Identity and values in the European Union. Towards a new form of obscurantism in European societies?

The process of rationalisation that has characterised the modern West over the centuries found its zenith in the Enlightenment. The universalism-oriented values it proposed were the reference point for the evolution of Western civilisation and a series of achievements in civil, political and social rights that still form the basis of modern democracies today. At the same time, the universalistic character of these values has come into conflict with other models of society, leading to the emergence of a growing gap between the West and the rest of the world. In recent times, this gap has also widened within the cradle of the Enlightenment: Europe. In the European context, the gap with Western values has turned into an internal opposition between the European Union and Europe at large. Through the actions of the European Union, the so-called “emancipative values” of the Enlightenment tradition have become an integral part of the European identity, as enshrined in Article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty. This has generated an internal confrontation that has fuelled the many forms of cultural claims that have underpinned nationalisms and sovereignisms in Central and Eastern Europe. Moreover, this internal conflict has fostered the rise of identity-based political parties and the adoption of policies that lead to the dismantling of the rule of law, as evidenced by the Rule of Law Reports issued by the Commission over the past three years.