The author of the report, mainly based on a current relationship between the Council of Europe and its member states, addresses the crisis of European integration. The resistance of member states to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the expressis verbis rule of supremacy of constitutional law over the decisions of interstate bodies enshrined in the Russian Constitution, the conflict between national constitutional courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union demonstrate the relevance of the report. The author examines the causes of the crisis which lies in inadequate correlation of European and national identities in context of existing values. The author emphasizes two difficulties in finding a right balance of identities, that is, the existence of plural legal systems, which hierarchy is determined ambiguously, and searching of national values, which are reflected in the law only indirectly. In the author’s opinion such difficulties are of political nature and should be resolved primarily by politicians and not by the judicial power. The inability of the political authorities to exercise their competences and to agree with each other, actually leads to “judicial federalism”. The report suggests the current crisis from a brand new perspective and puts forward preliminary proposals to reconcile the State’s obligation to respect its obligations under international law with its national identity.

This article was published in the Journal of Foreign Legislation and Comparative Law in 2021 (vol. 17, No. 1). On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Editorial Council of the Journal decided to repeat this publication, which has not lost its scientific significance and will contribute to solving modern problems of comparative law.