The times of crisis which have long been threatening the European Union have exposed differences in how EU principles and values are being interpreted and practised. Divergences can be political, legal or cultural, and all these aspects are closely inter-related. As Marek Cichocki argues, Poland and Germany, despite close economic cooperation, sometimes put different interpretations on the fundamental principles and values of the EU. The institution of the Union itself, although built on the rule of law, the three-way division of power and an independent judiciary, has insufficient mechanisms to enforce member-state compliance with these principles. Josef Janning writes on the consequences of this fact. Both texts, as well as articles on European topics from a Polish and German perspective are available on the German–Polish European Blog.