The newly established Luxembourg Centre for European Law held its inaugural conference on 10-11 October 2025, exploring the theme of "European Union law and values in a changing world". Martijn was invited to speak about the relationship between European values and democracy.
The title of his presentation was 'European values and democracy: uncomfortable bedfellows?'. He drew attention to the trade-offs between the values listed in Article 2 TEU, emphasising that EU values and democracy are not necessarily complementary. Democracy will be at the losing end when the protection of EU values is thrust too much into the hands of undemocratic institutions such as the judiciary.
Martijn urged academics not to focus solely on the judiciary in their analysis of the protection of EU values. He also called on the Court of Justice to exercise caution when interpreting Article 2 TEU. Given the weak legal and normative justifications for a more expensive interpretation of this provision, the Court should exercise sufficient care and restraint when it comes to Article 2 TEU.
