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Project

Between constitutional and national identity: the Belgian case as a testing ground for the role of collective identity in European law

National and constitutional identity have recently gained prominence in the jurisprudence of many European constitutional courts, where these concepts are used to protect core national values against the introduction of EU-law. We believe this evolution is problematic, both from a philosophical and a legal point of view, as it rests on ill-defined concepts with an ambiguous legal status. Adopting an interdisciplinary methodology, this research project seeks to assess the normative and legal validity of national and constitutional identity in the European context. This will require five specific steps. First, we will map the usage of these concepts within academic and legal debates. Second, we will philosophically elucidate the meaning of national and constitutional identity and examine the distinct moral values on which they purportedly rest. Third, we will investigate the place of these concepts within the framework of EU-law, their relation with other legal concepts and, in particular, their relation with the notion of sovereignty within the EU’s sui generis form of (con)federalism. Fourth, we will test the concrete viability of national and constitutional identity by looking at the case of Belgium. We will analyse the dynamics between the constitution and collective identity in Belgium from 1830 to the present. Finally, building on the previous four steps, we will formulate practical recommendations for the usage of national and constitutional identity in European law.

Date:1 Jan 2020 →  31 Dec 2023
Keywords:National and constitutional identity, Belgium, European law, collective identity
Disciplines:Constitutional law, European law, Philosophy of law, Social and political philosophy, Political history