66

Abstract Defining a European identity based on shared values is essential, as it makes it possible to ensure the consistency of the European project, and to pursue and legitimate public policy. It can however be difficult to imagine such an identity, and this difficulty accounts for EU’s current political crisis. Yet the European identity actually emerges from social and economic values, and is embedded in the common cultural heritage and in the creation of a European juridical space. But the building of this supranational identity should not be carried out at the expense of national ones. The European Union thus remains faced with an existential debate: to achieve unity while respecting its diversity.