European cultural identities: The agents of European consciousness and how successful have they been in engendering such consciousness

Résumé du document

‘Being in Europe' and ‘Being a European' are two different things. It is fair to say that over the years a common space has been created in the economic, legal, and to a certain extent in political spheres. However, when we come to other realities (language, culture, religion, memories, values and practices etc) the people of the EU are keen on maintaining their national allegiances. What the EU lacks is a common culture around which Europeans can unite? Such cultural elements, which unite the existing national identities (such as shared language, history, memory, religion) tend to divide rather than unite fellow Europeans. The problem recalls Massima d'Azeglio's comment following the Italian unification in 1870: ‘we have made Italy: now we must make Italians'. Despite the massive transfer of regulatory and decision-making powers from the nation-states to the European Union, there has been no corresponding shift in popular sentiment or political loyalty. Yet, agents have tried to engender popular consciousness.”

Extraits

[...] If social policy is, by definition, universally applicable and redistributive, then the focus on workers could be seen as creating a serious deficit in coverage. The continued emphasis on workers can be explained by three main reasons: - First, the social protection systems in the 6 founder member states dereived from the employment insurance-related model characteristic of continental Europe rather than being based on universal access of right. - Second, since the EEC had been established as an economic community, the justification for any interest in human and social rights was a consequence of the need to ensure the free movement of labour as an important component in factor mobility. [...]

[...] - The question of a European commonality of values is becoming more difficult to achieve because the values either are becoming actually or potentially universal (democracy, liberalism, human rights, market economy, and so on) or can no longer function as European (Christianity, anti-Communism) - The majority of national public spaces are constitued by the presence of a common language. This is not the case of Europe as a whole; where more than 70 languages are spoken. - Within the EU a sphere of free public debate is little developed. As a consequence, it is difficult to know whether individuals are engaged citizens. In Europe most debates are about domestic issues. Anthropologists would argue that it is a mistake to underestimate the importance of symbols and the role they play in mobilising sentiment and public opinion. [...]

[...] Through this presentation, through some illustration, we will argue that the multiplicity of the agents involved in the development of the European consciousness has partly succeeded. I. The deficit of internalisation and the role of the agents A multiplicity of actors ‘agents' of European consciousness': By this term I do not mean simply those insitutions and actors at the centre stage of European Union affairs (although they rank among the most important), nor am I concerned with individual consciousness in a psychological sense. [...]

[...] Conclusion : Dominique Wolton and Victor Perez-Diaz have pointed out that there are a number of major differences between the national public space and the proposed European one: - It is a fact that public spaces have developed over a long period of time. The EU is not only young, but it has hitherto had mainly an economic basis. - National public spaces were created within rigid state borders. The way in which the EU is evolving seems to prefigure a vast space ‘from the Atlantic to the Urals'. [...]

[...] The most important increases are seen in Austria 8 percentage points) and in Sweden percentage points), followed by Belgium and Spain percentage pooitns). On the other hand, it is decreasing in 6 countries, including Germany and Luxembourg The proportion of people who feel European to some degree is highest in Italy and Luxembourg. In Luxembourg of the population feel European solely and about the same proportion feel firstly European and then the nationality of their country. Luxembourg is the only country where these feelings are so widespread. Only 36% of British feel European to any degree. [...]