This article highlights certain aspects of EU member state culture on the disintegration
of the Union from a constructivist perspective. It ascertains that the present disintegration
is a result of a long-time existing Europe-wide anti-Enlightenment tradition described
by Zeev Sternhell. Its patterns were always part of EU law as well as domestic policy-making;
only its strength and relevance were different. As a result, EU policies existed like
materials in a dynamic equilibrium: Antagonistic processes like integration and disintegration
were melding in EU cooperation, at the same time, in the same system. Without proper
circumstances, however, the system can contain more and more patterns which reverse
cooperation and cause tensions. On the other hand, the anti-Enlightenment tradition
does not necessarily negate the cooperation, but has the potential to change domestic
governance and, through this, the principles on which European nations build their
cooperation.