Value Foundations of the European Integration and their Exercises in the Current Relations between Russia and the European Union

Abstract

The article describes the value category behind the political development and practice of the European Union and the European integration project. Values are tools of developing the supranational ideology, identity, and political development vector. The author describes the connections between values and integration institutions, e.g., how the institution affects the stability of the value foundations of the integration project, how the interest of Europeans in the value discourse depends on the success of integration, etc. Public attention to values grows as the integration process slows down. Based on the theory of values, the author analyzed the current relations between Russia and the European Union. The analysis revealed a critical attitude of Europeans to the value component of Russia's contractual obligations, which developed as early as in 1994, the year of the first the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Europeans see Moscow as a threat to the integration values. Therefore, Moscow acts as a convenient opponent that can be held responsible for numerous integration failures. As a result, Europeans cannot understand that the integration problems are caused by the internal European political processes, which prevents them from reaching any compromise with Russia.