El giro “reactivo” de la identidad europea: condicionamiento de fondos y confianza mutua

This article analyses the evolution of identity in the European Union, as well as the effects it has had on the principle of mutual trust. The authors elaborate on three different facets of this factor: individual, when it arises from a single State, as to national identity; syncretic, when it comes up as a result of the joint consideration of national identities, through common constitutional traditions; and reactive, when it represents a response to a critical situation as a concept tailored in the context of the European Union. To this end, the judgments handed down by the CJEU in cases C-156/21 and C-157/21, on the actions for annulment brought by Hungary and Poland to request the annulment of Regulation 2020/2092 (conditioning of funds to compliance with the rule of law) are considered. In such context the CJEU has first constructed the concept of European identity, specific and independent of the process of European integration and derived from the values contained in article 2 TEU, in connection with the principle of mutual trust.