http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/d3c75a7cc7732937 https://verfassungsblog.de/european-society-based-on-common-values/ The Dangerous Idea of a European Society Based on Common Values Höpner, Martin eng 2026-06-26 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Article 2 TEU Commission v Hungary EU European Society European Values Rechtssoziologie EU Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 The CJEU began to treat the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU as justiciable legal norms in its ASJP judgment from 2018. In its 2026 judgment in Commission v Hungary, it took the further step of treating those values as justiciable stand-alone norms and justified that step by invoking the existence of a European society. This contribution approaches the matter from a social-science point of view. I argue that the Article-2-TEU claim of a European society is theoretically unconvincing, empirically untenable, and politically dangerous.