Insights Into the Concept of European Identity
Insights Into the Concept of European Identity

Summary/Abstract: This conceptual paper seeks to present the main theories of social identity and to explain the fundamental processes related to the concept of identity. Then, once the connection between identity and communication is highlighted, it looks into the concept of European identity. A European identity already exists, in spite of the fact that “country first, but Europe too” is the revealed result of the Eurobarometer surveys. A fresh perspective in the field considers the nature of the compatibility between the national and European identity (which do not exclude each other) to be the different approaches of identity emergence: while national identities are largely “cultural”, European identities are primarily “instrumental”. The paper argues that the instrumental European identity, as the identity based on self-interested calculation, is a reality. The European Union (EU) has been experimenting new ways to contribute to the emergence of a European identity, trying to promote to its citizens symbols as identity markers once used by nations with the same aim (such as a flag, an anthem, a currency). In the EU context, funding opportunities are also being used to foster European identity acquisition.

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