ABSTRACT
The motto of the European Union, Unity in Diversity, reveals a fundamental tension in the structure of the EU and simultaneously hints at how this tension might be resolved. The desire of the EU States to achieve common goals such as prosperity, peace and security, drives forward integration, a process that in many cases demands the replacement of particular national policies and practices with commonly agreed EU ones. At the same time, as the EU reaches deeper into historically established domestic political balances, national institutional arrangements, societal norms and cultural values, progress toward integration is stalled unless some room for toleration of national diversity is provided. This reveals a paradox at the heart of EU integration: it requires that, at some times and in some ways, national diversity be accommodated.
