VALUE DIFFERENTIATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: HISTORICAL PREREQUISITES AND TRENDS

The article shows the dynamics of changes in the dominant social values ​​in the European Union and the impact of this trend on the peculiarities of political processes. The pandemic has accelerated the process of crystallization of liberal-democratic and authoritarian models of modern global capitalism. Social changes provoke a conflict of values. Socialist, liberal and conservative parties are losing credibility. The situation is being used by populists. The historical period of uncertainty disorients public opinion. The crisis of traditional liberal-democratic values ​​creates an ideological vacuum. The manifestation of this trend is a change under the influence of changing social stratification of socio-political identities of individuals and societies. The post-industrial European information society is creating a shortage of traditional ideas about work and Christian morality. This process destroys trade union and social democratic political practices. The dominant information socio-political sphere is characterized by the blurring of the criteria of truthfulness and falsity of information. Gone is the idea of ​​a rational, well-informed voter capable of making a conscious political choice in favor of one’s own and the public’s interests. The article shows the correlation between the change of values ​​and the political culture of Western, Eastern, Southern and Northern Europe. The choice in favor of a “green economy” stimulates a change in social values ​​and everyday practices of human behavior. The pandemic created a crisis of power legitimacy. Quarantine “shutdowns” of the economy creates a crisis of administrative rationality. The consequence of these trends is a crisis of motivation of government and society due to stressful overload of competing values. The conclusions prove that value differentiation in the European Union is a consequence of the peculiarities of the development of national history. These trends are evident during the intergovernmental conference on the future of the European Union. Uncertainty about the European Union’s development strategy freezes the EU’s enlargement process. The realization of the tendency to harmonize different values ​​is hypothetical.