Publication : Constitutional Europe : one or divided ?

Angelika Nussberger

Constitutional Europe : one or divided ?

An exploration of Europeanhistory from a legal perspective.

On February 24 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, a country geographicallyand historically rooted in the east of the continent, but which proclaimed its independence from the Soviet bloc in 1991 and gradually drew closer to Western Europe. Angelika Nussberger gave the four lectures that make up this book against the backdrop of the war's early stages . Looking at the reception of Enlightenment ideas, the hopes of building a " common European home " (Mikhail Gorbachev) and the phase of disillusionment after 2000, she explores the history of Europe from a legal perspective, showing how the diversity not only of legal heritages - notably constitutional - but also of ideological positionscan represent an obstacle to European unity, and outlines possible paths to a common future.
At a time when the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is crystallizing theEast-Westdivide, this book sheds light on the current situation by analyzing the divergences on fundamental values - democracy, human rights and the rule of law - that have been undermining relations between Eastern and Western Europe since theymet in the decade following the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Nussberger A., L'Europe constitutionnelle : une ou divisée ? , Paris, Collège de France, coll. " Conférences ", 2023, 116 p.

ISBN : 978-2-7226-0613-5
Price : 18  €
Publication : April 20 2023

Director of the Academy for the European Protection of Human Rights, Angelika Nussberger is Professor of Constitutional Law, Public International Law and Comparative Law at the University of Cologne. She is an international judge at the Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vice-President of the Venice Commission (Council of Europe).