While the EU is preparing to celebrate its 60th anniversary since the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the European Commission has presented a white paper “on the future of Europe”. To make it worse, many authors and literates affirm that Europe is facing a serious identity crisis, whose origins can be found in the economic crisis spreading in all the communitarian territory.
But can we actually speak about a European identity? What are we referring to?
Of course it is not something real, concrete: we can’t touch it, but we can feel it. According to someone, the first time it revealed itself was after the WWII, when Winston Churchill stated the creation of the “European family”. That context of shocking violence and destructive nationalism gave birth to a common sense of belonging, a kind of patriotism towards a bigger country called Europe. But after this, we can’t observe a European identity which has always existed and remained immutable until now. Not at all: if we could ask to different European citizen what do they mean by “European identity”, in all likelihood we would receive all different answers. Even the same individual could change his perception of this identity depending on the (historical) time and the situation.
This because defining the European identity is not simple. It emerges in citizens’ discourses, in leaders’ public speeches or through the media. It is exemplified by people’s actions and behaviours. But it is not only this; it is not the mathematical sum of European citizens’ identities: to exist, it needs a group reality and common ways of acting according to the shared “Europeans”.
Many people point out a link between “European identity” and cultural value. In fact, shared beliefs such as democracy, human rights, free will, have provided the basis to establish a common identity among those citizens who believe in them, and the European Union is their lofty demonstration. In other words, being “European” is a synonym of having specific value. It is easily understandable how this is possible only if we leave national identities aside.
In this sense, “European identity” is a social construction (somebody could define it a political instrument), and for this reason it depends on individuals, as well as on the external factors that have an influence on them and indirectly on the perception of this common identity.
We are experiencing it nowadays. The 20th century represents the crisis point in the development of the “European identity”, since several events undermined its stability. The Eurozone crisis, the financial instability, the slowing down in the run against Chinese and South-Asian economies, the rise of Russian political “aggression”, the wars and social-political instability in the Middle East, the ISIS terrorism, the refugees crisis and finally Brexit, whose consequences are still unpredictable after one year from the referendum, are only some of the main factors that are changing the EU and are building obstacles to feel a real unity between people.
And in these winds the “European identity” starts swaying, precisely when it is needed more than ever. Certainly, the idea of belonging appeals most in times of health and happiness, much less in times of difficult endeavours.
For example, the economic sociology expert Fligstein points out that citizens in the north cannot be faulted for not wanting to pay for the economic errors or misconduct of the south. In addition, the vast majority of them already view themselves as mostly having a national identity, they do not have a sense that they “owe” those in the south anything in the name of a shared European identity. Moreover, alongside Poliakova, the director of research for Europe and Eurasia at the Atlantic Council, Fligstein argues that the EU integration project has pushed citizens to appreciate their national identities. In fact, in countries most seriously hit by the crisis, national identities have increased dramatically and citizens with a national and European identity have decreased.
However, this doesn’t mean that national identity is incompatible with and European identity. They are closely associated, sometimes supporting, sometimes fighting each other, but what is sure is that they are not substitutes.
On the contrary, in the late 1990s the slogan “Unity in diversity” was launched, referring to the fact that the “European identity” was emerging and crashing against the national identities. So the point was no longer trying to conciliate these two identities, but rather finding one inside the other: internal diversity become the distinctive feature of European identity. Thanks to the slogan, the plurality of collective identities existent within Europe started to be recognized and valorised. But they are not necessary national, or political, identities: they could be local, regional, but also cultural, ethnic, religious.
However, this way of thinking entails some risks. First of all, which is the diversity that creates identity? Which are the borders that can’t be crossed to reach a European unity? For example, is ‘Europeanness’ a civic and territorial identity that can be acquired by anyone? Ethnic minorities, or people who may be citizens or long terms residents of Europe, having moved to Europe two or three generations ago, can be considered as Europeans? Can people of dark or black skin colour? Or are all Europeans white or Christian? Moreover, this view entails a risk of reifying national and regional identities and neglecting important processes of national and local or ethnic identity transformations. In other words, there is a risk that European identity becomes an empty shell and loses completely its cultural vitality.
Thus more than what European identity is, one should pay attention to what European identity does. While politicians fight over ‘English’, ‘French’ or ‘German’ visions of Europe, the Europeans are being left behind. European identity is about people. It is about connecting and sharing values of democracy, humanitarian justice, exchange of goods and technology, and transnational cultural production. Only with a continued and concerted efforts these positive and precious characteristics of European identity can be re-established and toughened at this crucial juncture.
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