“Building an EU Identity?” Policy Development at the EU Level to Strengthen Citizens’ Selfidentification in Terms of EU Citizenship and Belonging

Abstract

Over the past decade and a half in particular the EU has engaged with issues of “Europeanness” and citizen belonging in ways broader and more fundamental than indicated merely by citizenship or the holding of a passport. Various initiatives have been aimed at building a sense of civic society across Europe and hence of greater citizen identification with the EU. This thesis analyses in detail the emergence of the concept of an EU identity in the sense of Europeanness and a feeling of belonging. EU policy formulations from the early 1970s until today to create a feeling of belonging on a political, social and cultural level have been introduced by EU institutions. The focus has shifted from creating an EU identity to inculcating a feeling of European belonging. Yet over the past decade and a half, existing EU policies have not been felt to be sufficient to establish strong support for the EU by its citizens. Arguably the EU has failed to develop a sense of belonging among its citizens and to create a broad-based sense of EU identity. The academic literature on the topic of EU identity is presented highlighting the main themes identified as problematic in the conceptualisation of a modern EU identity in terms of “Europeanness”. Most assumptions regarding European identity have been questioned and found wanting to the point where the question is legitimately raised whether one can speak in terms of an EU and/or a European identity at all. The qualitative research of the thesis consists of the presentation, evaluation and discussion of two approaches in the creation of a feeling of belonging. With most integration having been implemented in a top-down manner by EU institutions, bottom-up integration has been lacking in the overall policy agenda of the EU. The two approaches focus on, firstly, the Conference on the Future of Europe and, secondly, the working of the European Parliament, with a focus on how Members of the European Parliament engage with their constituents.