scholarly journals The Hidden Interest in a Common European Identity

Societies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Gintaras Aleknonis
Keyword(s):  
European Identity ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Identity Problem ◽  
Institutional Level ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
The Face ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
The Eu

A common European identity is an important part of the European political lexicon; however, at the institutional level, it was taken seriously only when the economic crisis, the legal challenges of EU integration, and the Brexit story encouraged a fresh look into the problem. Moreover, the European identity problem may be viewed differently from the Western and Eastern European perspectives, which helps to identify the roots of contemporary “official” and “sociological” perceptions of a common European identity. The Standard Eurobarometer (EB) questionaries were used as a proxy to analyze the interest of the EU in a common European identity. We analyzed the types of questions asked from 2004 to 2020 and took a look at the responses. The shifts in the composition of the Standard EB questionaries signal that the “official” understanding of identity is gaining ground against the “sociological” approach. The promotion by official bodies of the EU of a one-sided understanding of a common European identity, based on the Western approach, narrows the field and creates certain risks. In the face of a permanent EU-ropean unity crisis, it would not be wise to lose one of the important instruments that could be successfully used to identify the hidden challenges of the future.

EU Accession of Central and Eastern European Countries: Democracy and Integration as Conflicting Logics

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi Raik
Keyword(s):  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
The Eu

Although the European Union (EU) has in many ways supported democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, it has also imposed new constraints on the functioning of democracy. The article explores the indirect impact of EU integration on the Eastern applicant countries by exposing the underlying logic of enlargement and analyzing the implications of that logic for democratic politics. The empirical analysis focuses on the preaccession process of one of the new member states, Estonia, but it also examines the overall EU policy toward Eastern candidates, pointing to the limits of enlargement as a form of democracy promotion. It highlights that the principles and norms that dominated enlargement—most notably inevitability, speed, efficiency, and expertise—constrained democratic politics in the applicant countries and limited their EU accession to a narrow sphere of elites and experts. The author links the findings with the democratic deficit in the EU and draws some conclusions concerning future prospects of democracy in and democracy promotion by the enlarged EU.

scholarly journals Symbolic and pragmatic aspects of European identity

Sociologija ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
György Lengyel ◽  
Borbála Göncz
Keyword(s):  
European Countries ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Symbolic Identity ◽  
Pragmatic Aspects ◽  
The Eu

It seems realistic that one of the long-term preconditions of European integration is the strengthening of European identity. Otherwise, it might happen that a growing split occurs between the elites and the population in the question of integration. In the Western European countries the concepts of Europe and the EU frequently coincide, while in the Eastern European countries Europe has primarily cultural-historical connotations and the EU embodies economic development and welfare. In an international comparison, European identity was stronger in the newly joining countries, but in some of them (i.e. in Hungary and Estonia) the national identity was among the strongest as well. The current study is based on a Hungarian representative survey carried out in 2003 - that is before Hungary joined the European Union. We supposed that class positions, the availability of material, cultural and social resources strongly influence European identity. We examined two aspects of identity, a symbolic and a pragmatic one. The symbolic identity was measured by questions addressing national vs. supra- and sub-national belonging, while pragmatic identity was approached by a question addressing the fair redistribution of taxes among the different levels. We could compare these dimensions and investigate the possible reasons for inconsistencies. .

scholarly journals Introduction: Life Writing and European Identities

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1049-1066
Author(s):  
Marijke Huisman ◽  
Marleen Rensen
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Life Writing ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Art Exhibition ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Eu

Since the turn of the millennium, life writing has been a burgeoning field, with identity formation as one of its key themes. In terms of identity ‘Europe’ is still relatively understudied, despite the fact that biographies and autobiographies have long been used to constitute or foster European identities, as is the case, for example, with respect to the so-called ‘founding fathers’ of the EU. Life writing bears at least as much potential to challenge such master narratives of Europe and make an important contribution to the ongoing debate about European identity. This special issue on life writing and European identity illustrates this, in articles ranging from Ai Weiwei’s art exhibition #SafePassage (2016) and the (contested) dichotomy of Western and Eastern European modernity in Vesna Goldsworthy’s memoir Chernobyl Strawberries (2005), to life in post-war Norway in Karl Ove Knausgard’s bestselling novel cycle Min Kamp (2009–2011) and the meta-biographical work of novelist A.S. Byatt.

Commission will seek to drive EU integration again

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Euro Area ◽  
Food Quality ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Intelligence Sharing ◽  
The Eu

Significance Brexit was little more than a footnote in a speech that outlined several initiatives and a vision calling for the other 27 EU members to move forward together towards deeper integration as the United Kingdom prepares to leave. Impacts Juncker’s commitment to equal food quality across the EU could serve as an olive branch to Central-Eastern European governments. Efficient cooperation on cybersecurity would require more intelligence-sharing, which would encounter opposition from some member states. Euro-area integration may slow down if a liberal/centre-right CDU-FDP coalition is formed after the German elections.

scholarly journals Bounded Inclusion: Race, Migration and the Making of the European Educational Space

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Nancy Spina
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Immigrant Education ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
The Core ◽  
Youth Education ◽  
European Dimension ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
The Eu

The creation of “European educational space” is one of the objectives of the European Union’s (EU) cultural policy. This paper examines an overlooked contradiction within the European educational space discourse, namely the tension between its stated goals of creating a new European identity based on common cultural heritage and its reliance on intercultural education’s ideas of trans‐ethnic identities to address the challenges of immigrants’ integration. Relying on the insights of critical race theory, the paper argues that the key assumptions behind the European educational space and intercultural education, far from being contradictory, are interconnected insofar as intercultural pedagogy informs the tropes of “migrants,” “integration,” and “multiculturalism” that are at the core of the European dimension of education’s discourse. The paper argues that these tropes are part of an evolving discourse about immigrant education that allows the EU to maintain a facade of multicultural benevolence while perpetuating a differential inclusion of EU and non‐EU migrants in Europe. To support these claims, the paper critically examines the evolution of the discourse surrounding migration and integration in the EU, focusing on the main policy initiatives on immigrant youth education elaborated from the 1970s onwards.

scholarly journals How to Bridge the Gaps between Competing Paradigms for EU Law: An Introduction

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. E-I-E-XIX
Author(s):  
Marta Simoncini ◽  
Gert Straetmans
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
The One ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Eu

Abstract For the first time since its creation, the European Union (EU) has been living its probably most significant identity crisis. This crisis has its roots in different critical situations that have hit the EU, have affected its functioning and have fundamentally questioned its legitimacy. The gaps in the EU integration process have been uncovered and the fragmentation of EU policies has become a source of different risks. On the anniversary of sixty years of the Rome Treaties, this Special Issue aims to reflect on the paradigms for EU law looking beyond their competing accounts of EU integration. The analysis is developed through a series of contributions that challenge the paradigms in different directions. The discussion is articulated on two levels. On the one hand, a group of contributions focuses on the historical and legal analysis of the emergence and transformation of the EU legal order. These contributions delve deeper into the absence of a European identity and go beyond the inherent critique that the EU is a demoi-cracy that struggles with a democratic disconnect or even deficit. On the other hand, other contributions debate paradigms and their implementation in important policy domains. These contributions aim to give a more practical perspective on the constitutional and/or administrative character of the European Union, showing its implications and concrete questions.

scholarly journals The Role of the European Education Area in European Union Integration in Times of Crises

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iryna Kushnir
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
European Education ◽  
Just Society ◽  
The Eu

The European Union has faced many crises, such as populism, xenophobia, economic and political challenges, to name a few. This has resulted in some questioning whether the EU will survive. Herein, the neo-institutionalist perspective on crises in EU integration frames an original and timely inquiry into the role of a new EU initiative – the European Education Area – in supporting EU integration in these challenging times. This inquiry relies on a thematic analysis of relevant key policy materials. The findings highlight that while it is not surprising that the EEA is an example of an education convergence project in the EU, the novelty of other findings is striking. It appears that the crises in the EU inspired the authors of the EEA to utilize its education as a tool for EU deepening, which is an aspect of EU integration related to the strengthening of the relationships amongst its Member States. Specifically, the EEA has been a driver in the development of a common European identity and European economy, the EU as a socially-just society and the continent of progress. These findings address important gaps of our knowledge about the role of education in driving EU integration.

scholarly journals The Challenges of Ukraine’s European Choice in the Context of the Kremlin’s Neo-Imperialist Policies During Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Presidency

2021 ◽  
pp. 51-65
Author(s):  
Tomasz Stępniewski ◽  
◽  
Andrzej Szabaciuk
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Eastern Partnership ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Eu

This article attempts to analyse the situation in Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression and increasing pressure from the Kremlin towards Eastern European states. The armed confl ict taking place in Ukraine means that the geostrategic situation of Eastern Europe has changed. In this context, the Eastern Partnership, which was meant to be one of the key instruments shaping international relations with the states neighbouring the EU in the East, is quite often seen as an ineffective or even obsolete tool. There can be no doubt that the greatest problem for the Eastern Partnership is that the project is seen in geopolitical categories – thinking of the countries of the Eastern Partnership in the context of the necessity for them to choose between the European Union and Russia (listening to statements by the EU’s political decision-makers, it can often seem that those states have no other option). The key research question is whether we will be dealing with an assertive EU policy in tandem with current US policy, or whether there will be another reset in relations between the West and the Russian Federation.

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