Political Rights and Liberties in the European Union: an Ideal Dating Back to the Enlightenment?

International audienceThis article offers to focus on the historical, philosophical and cultural contexts which paved the way for the political and administrative entity that the European Union has become over the last few decades. Of course the European cultural cohesion finds its deepest roots in Europe's rich antique background, made up of Greek, Roman, Jewish and Christian legacies, each having contributed in the linguistic, political, philosophical and moral structures of this continent. Without necessarily endorsing Denis de Rougemont's view according to which Europe has in fact existed for the past twenty-eight centuries.