How the CJEU operationalises core EU values: A comparative coding analysis of five value databases

Background The values of the rule of law, equality, respect for human dignity, respect for human rights, democracy, and freedom, expressed in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, form the axiological foundation of the European Union’s legal order. The purpose of this research was a systematic, empirical analysis of the case law of the CJEU concerning the values indicated above – covering a total of 182 judgments issued between 1956 and July 2026. The specific objectives were: (1) to identify and analyse how the EU’s core values are defined, operationalised, and justified across key rulings, including the tensions, developments, and interpretative trends over time; and (2) to develop a structured analytical framework for synthesising case law in a way that is accessible also to non-legal scholars. Methods The main method used in this research was an empirical analysis of the case law of the CJEU. The case law was compiled from the collection available on the EUR-Lex platform. The selection of case law for detailed analysis proceeded in two distinct stages. Stage one: algorithmic retrieval – for each value EUR-Lex’s “Relevance” sorting function was used to rank all judgments returned by a specific search query. Stage two: substantive author assessment based on a combined evaluation of the substantive operationalisation of the value, the institutional weight, and the significance of subject matter and outcome. Results The comparison shows that the rule of law (53.3%) and respect for human rights (50.0%) are mainly operationalised through primary law, whereas equality (45.4%), respect for human dignity (50.0%), and democracy (61.1%), by contrast, are mainly operationalised through secondary legislation. Conclusions The analysis of 182 CJEU supports the view that the values listed in Article 2 TEU are not, in the CJEU’s case law, fixed concepts with an unchanging content.