EU political identity: new paradigms, old problems

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the controversial question of European political identity. The issue of conceptualizing the European identity is connected to the necessity of achieving a common European political and geographical dimension. The research explores the reasons for the lack of shared acceptance of a general idea about the political dimension and the future of the community by the EU members. By arguing that the European identity-building process rests on the concepts of centrality of the individual in society and Christianity as a model of civilizational development and socio-cultural integration, the author demonstrates that the essence of a united Europe is not only pluralistic but universalistic. Consequently, it is necessary to rethink the nature of the European Union.