The Union's Homogeneity and Its Common Values in the Treaty on European Union

The Treaty on European Union, as it results from the amendments introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, expected two different provisions that are different in their content and phraseology. In effect, the art. 6.1 is built only with legal instruments and it is not that the beginning of the text recalls the "principles" as the basis of the Union, but on the contrary, the art. 2 leads one to think of the inclusion into the Constitution of a meta-legal content: in this sense the Union's basis makes reference to some "values". However the difference between principles and values is more apparent than real. In fact, while a regression from principles to values is not possible, the inclusion of "values" into a legislative or constitutional act produces the effect to make them legal. So, once inserted in a legal text, these values become "principles" that can be interpreted and help create a system. The difference between both versions concerns another aspect. In the text of the TEU-Nice, the homogeneity principle is set out in a recognitive way; on the contrary, in the Lisbon Treaty are introduced new programmatic aspects aiming to regulate the Union's and the Member States' future behaviour. This second part of the provision can be properly considered a body of objectives to be reached jointly in the European order and in the Member States' orders. It could well be written also in Art. 3 TEU, which recalls - among the objectives that the treaty should ensure - the promotion of the Union's "values", both inside (paragraph 1) and outside (paragraph 5). However, this dynamic part of the new homogeneity principle does not modify its structure and the typically legal character that it assumes in the European constitutional order, especially in the relationships between EU institutions and Member States. In fact, the objectives set out in the provision on the Union's "values" are a significant contribution in order to remove the internal differentiations that are considered not compatible with the whole system's structure.