European Identity Policy: Ways Of Formation

  • Abstract:
    The story of the unsuccessful adoption of the European Constitution from the political perspective and the latest financial crisis and namely crisis of Euro zone and the economic situation in particular countries of the European Union (so called “PI(I)GS”) demonstrated a menace for the future of the European project. It turned out that the foundation of the system can be not solid enough. In this way new crucial points for the well being of the EU are emerging. In 50s, the EEC was based on properly chosen institutions which from one hand were imposing commitments on its members but on the other hand still did not limit their freedom. Nevertheless, in comparison with that time now the European space became much more fragmentized, especially after Eastern and Central European countries joined the EU in 2004 and 2007. Moreover, the question of hypothetical acceptance of Turkey and some of Balkan states matters as well. Finally, nowadays the processes of re-nationalization in the member states become more and more intense, and in their turn they also send a challenge to the EU as a supranational entity. Therefore, a deep insight into the issue of identity is needed. The surveys give us an image according to which the identities on the national level and the supranational one interact with each other little by little transforming into transnational identity: national identity loses its definite monopoly in the public consciousness and public sphere while supranational gains more significance, though only to that point when one doesn’t replace another. So the identity takes more and more features of transnational one. This process is encouraged by the institutional design of the system, which provides institutions with various political practices creating “the middle way” identity between national and supranational levels. These practices in their turn form a European identity policy.