Abstract
Various kinds of legal principles are 'en vogue' in EU law. The present contribution addresses the question of whether this phenomenon can be viewed as an expression of a 'European Legal Culture'. To this end, some well-known conceptions of the term 'legal culture' and equivalents will be briefly sketched, after which various readings of the notion of a 'European Legal Culture' will be displayed. Ultimately, the preferred conception of a 'European Legal Culture' for the purposes of this contribution will embrace three elements that will be applied and tested individually: I will, first of all, try to illustrate why legal principles reflect the ongoing trend towards anti-positivism and pragmatism. Secondly, it will be shown that many legal principles in EU law are situated between the two extreme poles of unity and diversity which, understood as a continuum, becomes part of the definition of a 'European Legal Culture' itself. Thirdly, emphasis will be placed on the substantive driving forces at the EU level that underlie the recognition of legal principles.
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