Authors
-
Iordan Gheorghe Bărbulescu
-
Gabriel Andreescu
Keywords:
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, Treaty of Lisbon, European Convention, unity in diversity, Christian tradition, God, human rights, cultural diversity
Abstract
The paper offers a survey of the debate on the introduction, in the Preamble of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, of references to God and Europe’s Christian tradition. It examines the question of European identity and values which motivates these proposals in relation to (1) the nature of the EU as an essentially political construction; (2) the issue of human rights in the EU; (3) the protection of cultural and religious diversity within the EU. The study shows that the confessionalization of Europe promoted by strong churches on the Continent, which are legitimate actors of civil society, betray a failure to understand the logic of the European construction. To the extent to which they represent an attempt to secure a privileged position with respect to other religious or non-religious actors, they run against the functional principles and values of the Union.
Author Biographies
Iordan Gheorghe Bărbulescu
Professor, Ph.D, Faculty of Political Sciences, NSPSA, Bucharest, Romania. Author of the books: Dicţionar explicativ trilingv al UE (2009), Procesul decizional în Uniunea Europeană (2008), Uniunea europeana. Sistemul instituţional (2007), Uniunea Europeana. Politicile extinderii (2006), Uniunea Europeană. De la naţional spre federal (2006), Uniunea Europeană. De la economic spre politic (2006), Uniunea Europeană: aprofundare şi extindere (2001), Uniunea Europeană: abordări conceptuale (coord.) (1998), La preadhesión de los países de Europa Central a la U.E., elemento clave de la unificación europea (1997).
Gabriel Andreescu
Associate professor, Ph.D, Faculty of Political Sciences, NSPSA, Bucharest, Romania. Author of the books: Reprimarea mişcării yoga în anii `80 (2008), Schimbări ale hărţii etnice a Românie (2005), Naţiuni şi minorităţi(2004), Extremismuldedreaptaîn România / Right-Wing Extremism in Romania (2003), Polemici neortodoxe (2001), Ruleta. Români şi maghiari, 1990-2000 (2001), Locurile unde se construieşte Europa. Adrian Severin în Dialog cu Gabriel Andreescu (2000), Solidaritatea alergãtorilor de cursã lungã (1998), Patru ani de Revoluţie (1994), Cel mai iubit dintre ambasadori. Coen Stork în dialog cu Gabriel Andreescu (1993), Spre o filozofie a disidenţei (1992), Sistemele axiomatice ale logicii limbajului natural. Funcţii şi operaţionalizare (1992).
