How They Are Building The Eu Identity

PALACKY UNIVERSITY OLOMOUC PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY EUROCULTURE PROGRAMME

Intensive Programme (San Sebastian, Spain 2006)

Topic:

BUILDING THE EU IDENTITY

Professor : Ondrej Kucera Student: Bui Hai Dang

Olomouc, January – 2006

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BUILDING THE EU IDENTITY

Introduction The European Union (the EU) has been developing and achieving considerable achievements since 1992 in economic and political unifications. There are many reasons leading to the success of the EU. In spite of successes in institutionalizing economic and political integrations, the EU has met quite a lot of difficulties in solving cultural issues. The emergence of a sense of shared identity has become an increasingly outstanding issue over the past decade for both analysts and policy-makers. A growing number of analysts argues that the ultimate success of the dynamic process of European integration will depend on the development or existence of a European cultural identity1. At the same time, policy-makers have puzzled and haven’t known how to build up and develop such this kind of common identity, while being increasingly frustrated by national publics that appear to feel much less of a sense of community than many had expected. Therefore, building the EU identity has attracted many scholars, analysts and policy-makers alike. While optimists point out there is the existence of the so call the EU identity, pessimists state that an EU identity is only an aspiration. In this paper, we do believe that there is an incipient EU identity as Europeans have been sitting together is not just because of the economic interdependences. They have been united also because they share a common culture or cultural similarities, which rooted in the ancient Greek and Rome traditions, Christianity, a flower of Renaissance and the philosophy of human rights developed in the French Revolution. 2 After Europeans have sat together to establish the EU, the EU identity has been obviously formed based on European cultural values. That’s why many people state what the EU has to worry is about protecting yesterday’s accomplishment rather than facing tomorrow challenges (Josef Joffee, 1992/93: 43).

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In fact, there are two opposing forces have been directly affecting European integration process: the logic of global socio-economic interdependence that spells integration and the logic of ethnicity and nationality that demands separation. The centrifugal force of the claims of tribe, race, section, region and nation are pulling Europeans apart (Michael Ignatieff, 1993). To build the EU identity, the EU, on one hand, has to base on protecting and developing ancient set of values and traditions; on the other hand institutionalizing the centrifugal force. Besides the introduction and the conclusion, the paper is divided into 3 parts: the first part is pointing out European cultural identity (similarities) which partly full Europeans together and is the foundation for forming the EU identity; the second part is explaining how important the EU identity is; and the third part is about what the EU has done and how should the EU do to build up the EU identity.

1. The EU & European cultural identity •

The logic of unity After the World War II, Western Europe was completely destroyed, so Europeans

have had a strong desire to live in peace and to solve thoroughly the traditional conflict between Germany and France. And leading European intellectuals and politicians met a number of times to find a way of avoiding future conflicts and wars, the ideas of uniting Europeans was rekindled. This highly motivates Europeans to unite starting with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951. In fact, Europeans had had their idea of uniting Europe for such a long time, at least from the XVI-XVII century and earlier efforts of different historical individuals such as Frank in 7th and 8th centuries, Pierre Dubois in 1306, Napoleon in 19th century, etc. However, these past efforts were failed because of the heyday of nationalism on the continent (David Michael Green, 1999: 46-49). European integration is also considered as globalization on a regional scale or a regionalism of Europe, as well as defensive response to the world-wide trend of growing economic interdependence (Ham, Peter Van. 2001: 43). The centripetal forces of need, labor and science which have been created by the globalization are pulling Europeans together to protect their regional and national benefits. Member-states of a region could find their benefits through regional organization.

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According to Samuel Hungtington, people hate or fear what is different from them and love what is similar to them. Nothing could full people together as strong as a common culture or civilization; therefore, international organizations, like the EU which include member states sharing cultural similarities will be surely successful(Samuel Hungtington, 2003: 14-16). We, strongly agree, as many scholars and politicians do, that what unites Europeans is the sharing of a certain culture and values, which differentiate with other peoples, especially peoples from the East (Montserrat Guibernau, 2001: 5). European common cultural values which are based on Christianity, orientated to the ancient Greek and Rome traditions, a flower of Renaissance and the philosophy of human rights developed in the French Revolution have their own distinctive European culture, tradition or a set of values. All these cultural values have been invisibly uniting European. •

European cultural identity European culture is perceived as having flowed across changing boundaries for

hundreds of years, interspersing local, regional and national cultures with common motifs and traditions. However, its main features are also a controversial topic, different scholars have different ideas. For Wintle (1996: 13-16), a list of core European commonalities includes the Roman Empire, Christianity, the Enlightenment, industrialization, shared knowledge of language, and a common physical environment. Soledad Garcias’s list includes Hellenism, Roman law and institutions, Christianity, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, welfare society, and the cross-fertilization of diversity (Soledad Garcias, 1993: 7-9). And Václav Havel has argued that Europe’s core values are its commitments to an undivided continent, to individual freedom, and to the universalism of humanity (Václav Havel, 1996). Generally, we do think that European cultural identity, as a foundation for building up the EU identity, is a set of values rooted in ancient Greek and Rome traditions, Christianity, Humanism, and Individualism.

2. Why the EU identity? •

Political significances of the EU identity Modern men are not much loyal to a monarch, a land or a faith, but they are loyal

to culture. To achieve more intensive integrated Europe Union, an attempt to promote the idea of a distinctive European culture, tradition or a set of values has a high political significance (Ernust Geller, 1993). The distinctive European culture is a foundation for

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creating the EU identity which is capable of inducing feelings of belonging and the involvement of European people; even looking for the EU identity is not an easy task because the EU is more than a forum of transnational decision-making, a policygenerating mechanism and a “security community” (Theodora Kostakopoulou, 2001:14). The EU identity would also clearly benefit from the increasingly cosmopolitanism which characterizes contemporary Europe, in the form of massive increases in travel, commerce, and media exposure, much of it of the EU’s own doing. The continued repudiation if nationalism and its products of the first half of the century also continue to work in favor of a common identity. And Europe’s attempts at generating meaningful symbols (flags, anthem, etc.), the object of much derision today, in fact, resonate given enough time and proper circumstances. Finally, the content of The EU identity may strike an appropriate chord for our time. Though seemly paradoxical on its face, the “unity in diversity” theme and its applied notions of openness and tolerance may inspire devotees in a continent growing ever-smaller (David Michael Green, 2001: 57). •

Is the EU identity possible? Scholarly answers for this question have been mixed. On one side, there are a

number of scholars who have doubts about such an EU identity such as Philip Schlesinger (1993: 14), Anthony Smith (1992: 72-73), Max Haller (1994: 243-245), John Keane (1992: 57)...Most of them are suspicious because they could not find a common culture across the European continent, but they find that Europe lacks of a shared set of myths, experience and symbols; these elements which they find crucial to create an regional identity. Some are skeptical about the possibility of a common European identity because they think that Europe lacks of a shared historical and cultural content as it is one of positive differences dividing people. The rest of pessimists find European linguistic diversity and its tripartite religious division as obstacles to a shared European common identity. On the other side; however, there are reasons to suspect that The EU identity could be a going concern, and not all who has examined the question of identity is pessimistic about its possibilities. Michael Wintle starts exploring European common identity with a similarity to a national identity’s building process. He argues that the achievements of national elites in building “universal high culture” over previous

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countries providing evidence of the ability to do the same in the European context. Wintle believes on the existence of the EU identity in the form of converging education standards, educational exchanges, and the organization of a European civil society. Being encouraged buy the finding of historian Robert Baertlett, Wintle comes to the conclusion that a European identity was previously already created during the high Middle Age (Wintle, 1996: 19-22). Salvador Giner also points out characteristics and experiences which have been converging for all Europeans ranging from changes in life expectancy to secularization of society, the development of welfare capitalism, and economic prosperity (Giner, 1994: 22-26). As mentioned above, we believe on the existence of the EU identity and do agree with Wintle that there is no difference in constructing national identities and the EU identity. The EU identity would therefore appear to possess the same potential to develop as national identities have had. Both will take time; a state might be born overnight, but an identity grows more slowly. Therefore, institutionalizing the centrifugal forces affecting the process of European integration is what the EU’s policy-makers should do. •

Elements of the EU identity Elements of the EU identity are a combination of traditionally cultural values (as

mentioned in the first part) and modern values such as liberal humanism, civil rights, freedom of thought, belief, expression and association, with equality and the rule of law, with social responsibility and finally with pluralist and participatory democracy. In this combination, European cultural identity and its features are background values which always need to be fostered to build up the EU identity. Many people have their own definitions of the EU identity, for example, the EU identity was defined as “…nothing less than a shared humanism based on democracy, justice and freedom” (Carlo Ripa di Meana, 1993). However, in my opinion, it is so difficult to have a list of the EU identity’s elements at this moment of the EU because it would be so early to determine all elements of a 49 year identity.

3. Heading to build up the EU identity 5

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What has the EU done to for the EU identity? During all 50 years of existence, the EU started to think of cultural factor from 1972

marked by the Paris Summit (October 1972). Historical reasons explain why the process of European integration was initiated from an economic base, not from political or cultural base. The Rome Treaty which established EEC, had no mention of the word “culture” or its associated components such as education, art, etc because economic integration was the starting point for more intensive integration in the future. At the Paris Summit, EC officials realized that the popular identification would be achieved only if the European enterprise became less elitist and more “citizen-friendly”. And at the Copenhagen Summit in 1973, the nine member states adopted a “Declaration on European Identity”. The document set out, for the first time, principles for the internal development of the community thereby furnishing a framework for the formation of a political conception of The EU identity. The EU identity was then defined on the basic principles of the rule of law, social justice, respect for human rights and democracy, and in relation to: the status and the responsibilities of the nine member states vis-à-vis the rest of the world; the dynamic nature of the process of European unification. The document was analytically shallow and the political definition of The EU identity was intertwined with the Euro-centric statements invoking a common European culture whose survival to be ensured (Annex 2 to Chapter II, 7th Gen. Rp. EC, 1973). In December 1974, the Paris Summit Conference certified the idea of the EU identity and gave it more concrete substance by specifying policy objectives (Theodora Kostakopoulou, 2001:44-45). The most prominent success of the EU in fostering its identity is the increasing free movement of people across European borders, which has accelerated since the 1985 and in 1990 Schengen accords. More and more people interact a day to day basic with their fellow Europeans from other member states could be expected that a sense of a shared community will become stronger. The EU also sponsored a program of university exchanges, the Erasmus programme, so European university students could spend their second semester abroad at universities of member states. This would be valuable to help create a feeling of belonging to the EU, their common house as well (Piyanate Chuasomboon, 2003: 77). The EU’s common policy is also considered as a progressive step to build up the EU identity. Generally, the development of the EU identity will be the outcome of a long process in

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which bottom-up as well as top-down initiatives are likely to be employed (Monserrat Guiberau, 2002: 183-184). •

Institutionalizing the centrifugal forces As mentioned above, to build up the EU identity, the EU has to foster European

ancient cultural values and traditions on one hand; on the other hand, the centrifugal forces of the claims of tribe, race, section, region and nation need to be institutionalized. There are several related fields on which the EU needs to keep an eye in order to solve the issues of cultural policy. To promoting public awareness of common European cultural values and identity, the EU should encourage European university and schools to teach an agreed curriculum on European history. Developing the common European symbolscommunity of destiny would help to avoid wars, prevent environment, and so on. Fostering common values of community such as tolerance, freedom, human rights, solidarity…would also helps. Europe is composed of 50-odd languages, 30-40 ethnic groups and a patchwork of established, diverse and compact populations all of which have been developed in the framework of distinct nationalities each seeking political reflection in statehood. According to Borneman and Fowler (1997), it is possible to overcome these obstacles by: (1) Teaching foreign languages. Even English dominates in a number of areas such as popular music, science, business, tourism…, multi-language competence is still required. (2) Increasing exchanges at all levels (educational, cultural sand so on). (3) Encouraging cultural tourism, which can help to dismantle prejudices and contribute to the creation of a genuine respect and appreciation for the differences of culture and languages. (4) Some people state that sport can help in the process of creating the EU identity as well because they do believe that the increased Europeanization of sport will promote a certain amount of European consciousness. Generally, in the process of making cultural policy, the EU’s policy-makers need to take education and high culture into consideration because these two factors have an important effect on the creation of the EU identity. Education is obviously one of the crucial dimensions in any attempt to develop the future identity of the EU or at least more understanding and convergence among Europeans; and people said that high culture unites

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Europeans while low culture separates them.3 The Council of Minister of the European Community, in its meeting of 24th, May 1988, resolved to develop among children the awareness and knowledge of being European. The objectives are to: (1) Strengthen a sense of The EU identity in young people and make clear to them the value of European civilization and of the foundations on which Europeans tend to base their development today; (2) Prepare young people to take part in the economic and social development of the EU and in making concrete progress toward European integration; (3) Make them award of the advantages which the Union represents, but also of the challenges it invokes, in opening up an enlarged economic and social area to them; (4) Improve their knowledge of the Union and its member states in their historical, cultural, economic and social aspects, and bring home to them the significance of the co-operation of the member states of the EU with other countries of Europe and the world (Montserrat Guiberau (Ed.), 2001: 185-186).

Conclusion In our belief, the development of the EU identity is a worthy and attainable goal because Europeans share not only common values, a common history, but also share a common future in the integration process. An identity is at the heart of European integration project and the EU identity should be considered as “unity in diversity”. The EU identity as unity in diversity is a belief in the common and a faith in the difference. Each country has its own national identity but added to that one can choose the EU identity and let the EU identity be a part of a member state’s identity. Therefore, the objectives of the EU’s cultural policy have to protect and promote cultural identity at regional, national and European levels and to realize an open and dynamic European cultural space which contributes to the EU identity. In the process of creating the common identity, there are certain things need to be thought of and done locally, traditions for example; for the other matters it would be more appropriate to think and act nationally like cultural policies; for economic, foreign and security policies, a European approach is much more suitable and a global approach is for environmental and trade policies. In some fields such as human rights, social policy and 3

Further reading: Montserrat Guibernau (Ed.) 2001: Governing European Diversity. Sage Publication, p. 25-27

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financial policy, the EU has gone towards the notion of unity, union. However, if people want to feel European, they should move towards a greatest degree of integration. They should try to abolish any elements of nationalism that prevent Europe from achieving the so much wanted union and try to reach the common cultural policy as well. It is important to remind people that Europe is what its countries and people make. If people make their country and society prosper, it also benefits Europe and the EU. European security means security for each of the countries and secure conditions and open democracy at home strengthens the EU. A stronger Europe bases on a common identity, socially and economically, is a safer Europe with a growing economy. Language and culture must be taught, to encourage people to learn more languages so they can speak in a common tongue. There should be many more school exchanges to make use of new technology: schools could use the internet to establish and work with partner schools in several countries. Media also has a real responsibility for advancing knowledge of the new Europe. As mentioned, education is another major factor in forming individual and collective the youth’s knowledge of European culture, make it much easier to communicate and feel freely with people educated in the same tradition. That is why the EU started sponsoring study in other member states, hoping for a positive impact on the sense of the EU identity. National identities time to form and develop, so does the EU identity.

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References: Chuasomboon, Piyanate & Chongussayakul, Rudeerus. 2003. European Studies from Asian Perspectives, Monograph Series Vol. 3, Chulalongkorn University Publisher. García, Soledad (Ed.). 1993. Europe’s fragmented Identities and the Frontiers of Citizenship. In European Identity and the Search for Legitimacy. London: Printer. Giner, Salvador. 1994. The Advent of a European Society. In Toward a European Nation?: Political Trends in Europe-East and West, Center and Periphery. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. Geller, Ernst. 1993. Nations and Nationalism, Europa Union Verlag Green, David Michael. 1999. Who are “the Europeans”? European political identity in the context of the post-war integration project, Dissertation, Guibernau, Montserrat (Ed.). 2001. Governing European Diversity, Sage Publication Ham, Peter Van. 2001. European integration and post-modern condition: Governance, democracy, identity. London, GBR: Routledge Havel, Václav. 1996. The Hope for Europe. New York Review of books. Heller, Max. 1994. Epilogue-Europe As a New Nation or a Community of Nations? In Toward a European Nation?: Political Trends in Europe-East and West, Center and Periphery. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. Hungtington, Samuel. 2003. The clash of civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Ha Noi. Lao dong publishing house. Ignatieff, Michael. 1993. Blood and Belonging, BBC/Chatto Joffee, Josef. 1992. The New Europe: Yesterday' s Ghosts" in Foreign Affairs, vol.72, no.1. Kostskopoulou, Theodora. 2001. Citizenship, identity and immigration in the European Union between past and future. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press. Keane, John. 1992. Questions for Europe. In The Idea of Europe: Problem of National and Transnational Identity. New York: Berg. Ripa di Meana, Carlo. 1993. Cited in Culture Vultures, The Community Papers No.2, International Freedom Foundation. Schlesinger, Philip. 1993. “Wishful Thinking: Cultural Politics, Media, and Collective identities in Europe.” Journal of Communications, 43 (Spring, 1993). Smith, Anthony D. 1992. National Identity and the Idea of European Unity. International Affair 68. Wintle, Michael (Ed.). 1996. Cultural Identity in Europe: Shared experience. In Culture and Identity in Europe: Perceptions of Divergence and Unity in Past and Present, Aldershot: Avebury. http://www.ucd.ie/dei/about/staff_papers/ben_tonra_european_cultural_identity_1997.doc

http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/global/04isomura.html

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