European identity – its feasibility and desirability

… 'Europeanization and Multiple Identities', EUR/67, …, 2000

In this article I examine different concepts of collective identity formation which had been applied to the European Union (EU) in order to promote and form a transnational European identity. In this respect, I assess the attempts on European level which aimed to create a European sense of community and generate a stronger public support for the European integration project.

Early theorists of European integration speculated that economic integration would lead to political integration and a European identity. A European identity has not displaced national identities in the EU, but, for a significant share of EU citizens, a European identity exists alongside a national identity. At the same time, political parties asserting more traditional nationalist identities and policies have directed their dissatisfaction against immigrants, foreigners and, sometimes , the EU. Those who participate in 'Europe' are more likely to develop a European identity, while those whose economic and social horizons are essentially local are more likely to assert nationalist identities. It is argued in this article that the issue of European and national identity plays a heightened role in European politics, particularly in the economic crisis of 2007–11. The resolution of that crisis, which may result in increased European political cooperation , will have to take into account highly salient national identities that have so far resisted such cooperation .

Early theorists of European integration speculated that economic integration would lead to political integration and a European identity. A European identity has not displaced national identities in the EU, but, for a significant share of EU citizens, a European identity exists alongside a national identity. At the same time, political parties asserting more traditional nationalist identities and policies have directed their dissatisfaction against immigrants, foreigners and, sometimes , the EU. Those who participate in 'Europe' are more likely to develop a European identity, while those whose economic and social horizons are essentially local are more likely to assert nationalist identities. It is argued in this article that the issue of European and national identity plays a heightened role in European politics, particularly in the economic crisis of 2007–2011. The resolution of that crisis, which may result in increased European political cooperation , will have to take into account highly salient national identities that have so far resisted such cooperation .

JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2004

Abstract This article addresses a crucial issue underlying enlargement and constitutional re- form: the ways in which the EU has come to relate to a common,European identity. The discussion problematizes the concept of identity in order to distinguish between different types of identities. It proposes that, while a meaningful common European historical identification barely exists, European identities have come to

Corvinus Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 2011

The paper is designed to answer such questions as where does the development of a new common European identity stand, which countries or regions show stronger or weaker European identification inside the EU, how has this changed over the past decades in the process of the enlargement of Europe, what is the value content of the new common identity, and how is this affecting traditional national attachment and identity. The empirical foundation of our study is the international comparative empirical research series of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), in the years 1995 and 2003, which was designed to reconstruct the stock of knowledge of national and European identities in the member states. This study uses temporal and spatial comparison to consider national connectedness and the characteristics of European identity in various countries across Europe. Based on this data, in our paper we make an effort to explore what characterizes national identity in Europe, how people see foreigners and domestic minorities, whether we can identify the development of a transnational or supranational identity that goes beyond national identity, if there is a new frame of identification for people in Europe and to what extent we can expect increasing conflicts between the two types of identities.

After examining some theories on nationalism, the author claims that we can only speak of a fragile European identity. His main arguments are: first, the EU can neither been “invented” nor can it rely on shared memories and ancestry; second, the lacking nation-building tools of the European Union.

2013

How "European" are Europeans? Is it possible to balance national citizenship with belonging to the European Union overall? Do feelings of citizenship and belonging respond to affi liations to regions, religions, or reactionary politics? Unlike previous volumes about identity in Europe, this book's answers to these questions offer a more comprehensive view of the range of identities and new arguments about the political processes that shape identity formation. The founders of European integration promised "an ever closer union." Nationalists respond that a people should control their own destiny. This book investigates who is winning the debate. The chapters show that attitudes toward broader political communities are changing, that new ideas are gaining ground, and that long-standing trends are possibly reversing course.

Early theorists of European integration speculated that economic integration would lead to political integration and a European identity. A European identity has not displaced national identities in the EU, but, for a significant share of EU citizens, a European identity exists alongside a national identity. At the same time, political parties asserting more traditional nationalist identities and policies have directed their dissatisfaction against immigrants, foreigners and, sometimes, the EU. Those who participate in 'Europe' are more likely to develop a European identity, while those whose economic and social horizons are essentially local are more likely to assert nationalist identities. It is argued in this article that the issue of European and national identity plays a heightened role in European politics, particularly in the economic crisis of 2007-11. The resolution of that crisis, which may result in increased European political co-operation, will have to take into account highly salient national identities that have so far resisted such co-operation.