The present research aims to verify the nature and extent of the identity clause and to establish the role that art. 4, par. 2 TEU is called to perform in the management of the aforementioned conflicts. More specifically, it is of interest to verify whether the law has its own autonomy, what consequences may result its being violated in the light of CEU jurisprudence and what added value could have a consistent use of the identity clause in the context of the management of inter-order conflicts affecting the national identity of member states. To this end, it is essential to start from an examination of the reasons that led to the affirmation of respect for the national identity by the singular member states. To understand the legal value of art. 4, par. 2 TEUs must first reflect on the important developments in the matter of safeguarding the national identity of the Maastricht Treaty up to the Treaty of Nice and analyze them in correlation with other relevant provisions of primary law to protect state prerogatives but also to affirm a European identity founded on respect for values such as democracy and the rule of law as well as on the protection of fundamental rights. The analysis carried out in the first understanding focuses precisely on these aspects, trying to outline the path taken at the normative and jurisprudential level, not only in relation to the identity clause but also with respect to particular conceptions of fundamental rights as well as to cultural, linguistic and religious considered to be worthy of protection (as an expression of national specificity and capable of affecting the assessments of CJEU both on the admissibility of the exceptions to EU law, as well as in relation to their proportionality.
The possibility of recognizing an autonomous character - and not merely complementary and ancillary - in art. 4, par. 2 TEU necessarily passes through a more precise definition of its legal boundaries, which implies, on the one hand, a careful reflection on the differences with respect to the formulation of the clause as contained in art. 6, par. 3 TEU (dating back to the Amsterdam Treaty) as well as the changes proposed by Group V of the Convention on the Future of Europe. On the other hand, a careful reading and adequate knowledge of CJEU jurisprudence and of the relevant factual and legal context.

Dimitris Liakopoulos is Professor of international law, European Union law and criminal and procedural law in various Universities in US and Europe. Attorney at Law at New York and Brussels. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1048-6468.

Although negotiations are an ever-present part of our everyday lives, many of us know little why we sometimes get our way, while at other occasions we walk away feeling frustrated that we did not achieve the desired agreement or we ended up with the uneasy feeling that we may have left too much value on the table. Knowing how to gain the upper hand to get what you need from a negotiation is particularly important when the stakes are high. Especially in a situation where a negotiator feels the options and choices are limited but s/he needs to achieve something, a negotiation can cause a lot of stress; making the stakes even higher and the negotiation dynamics more difficult to manage.

New communication technologies play an increasingly important role in our day to day negotiations. Often we even enter into a negotiation situation by e-mail, video conferencing, online meetings or online desktop sharing, without noticing that in fact it is a negotiation situation. It is important to be aware of these situations and to know what works (and what does not work) and how you can maximize the outcome in such negotiation situations.

The collected articles, book chapters, and an exclusive interview with Chris Voss will capture the key concepts and most important learning points on how to gain the upper hand in high stake negotiations. This book deals in a concise way with proven approaches, tools and techniques like recognizing escalation mechanisms and techniques how to deescalate or deal with emotions. By reading this book you will gain access to crucial insights from professionals like FBI or US army negotiators who are experienced in negotiating under extreme pressure in situations where lives are literally on the line. To help you maximize your performance in your high stake negotiations this book also covers new developments like involving a deal facilitator and conducting e-negotiations. We furthermore included a role play of a negotiation in a conflict situation where the stakes are high and a lot of emotions are present on both sides of the table.

This book is published as volume 2 in the Series of the Result ADR Negotiation Institute (Amsterdam) on the occasion of the training ‘High performance negotiation’ by Chris Voss.

Manon A. Schonewille is President of the board of ACB Foundation, a conflict management research center and partner in Dispute Resolution and Deal Making training & resource center TOOLKIT Company. Besides training professionals in the advanced use of mediation and negotiation techniques all over the world, Manon lectures business mediation at Utrecht University where she also conducts research for her PHD thesis on deal facilitation. She co-chairs the International Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association (ABA) and is member of the Independent Standards Commission of the International Mediation Institute (IMI). She is a mediator with Result ACB in The Netherlands. Manon publishes regularly and is among others the author of Toolkit Gernerating Outcomes.

Felix Merks graduated from Law School in Leiden and subsequently worked in international procurement, corporate sales and business development & strategy for international companies. He obtained his Master degree in Dispute Resolution at the University of Amsterdam (cum laude) and was trained as a negotiation trainer at Harvard law school. Felix currently conducts research for his PHD thesis on pre-court procedures at Leuven University. In 2003 he founded Result ADR, which under his management grew to be the largest ADR organization in The Netherlands and recently merged with ACB. Felix is an experienced mediator and he frequently lectures on subjects relating to mediation and ADR. He currently resides in Amsterdam and Paris.