scholarly journals Through Thick and Thin: ‘European Identification’ for a Justified and Legitimate European Union

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-47
Author(s):  
Anna C. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
European Integration ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Common Identity ◽  
Rule Out ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Normative Political Theory

Debates on the viability of European integration often rest on the need for some form of common European identity. This article looks at European integration through the framework of normative political theory to explore what form of European identity is needed for the EU to be considered both justified – having a good or just reason for existence, and legitimate – having consent from its citizens. It critiques arguments for a purely justified EU, which rule out the need for a common European identity, as well as those requiring a thick common identity for a legitimate EU. In contrast, this article argues for a European identification that is both desirable as an identity and works to sustain a justified and legitimate EU. The proposed conception of European identification takes into consideration national and sub-national identities and opens up the potential for Europeanised identities at multiple levels.

“My European feelings are not only based on the fact that I live in Europe”

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Krzyżanowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
European Citizenship ◽  
Identification Processes

Identity has recently become one of the most frequently theorised and explored topics within various sub-branches of social sciences. Collective identities in general, and their ancestry and construction in particular, are being perceived in different ways by historians, anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists and, last but not least, discourse-analysts. This article aims at shedding a new light on the concept of European identity, which, so far, has been most frequently analysed within the context of the European Union and its political and economic impact on European space. Despite drawing theoretically on some well-grounded traditions of research on European identity, such as, e.g., analysis of its contradiction and suplementariness with national identities, or, its interconnection with such concepts as European citizenship or European integration, the analysis of European identity presented here is put in the context of globally understood identification processes. Empirically, the article draws on the analysis of TV talk show thematically bound by the topics concerning European Union’s impact on national identities.

scholarly journals Untitled

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 36-41
Author(s):  
Ana Maria Anghelea
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Maastricht Treaty ◽  
National Identities ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Eu

When at the end of the 1980s the EU launched a number of policies aimed to creating a European identity, the member states responded by incorporating into the Maastricht Treaty a clause stating that the European Union should respect the member states’ respective national identities (article F, point1). This reaction, along with the introduction of principle of subsidiary and the rejection of the word “federal”, revealed that many member states considered the creation of a European identity as a potential threat to their own national identities and their citizen’s national loyalties (Hojelid, 2001).

'Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George': Europe and the Limits of Integrating Identity

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Foster
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Ethnic Nationalism ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
White Nationalism ◽  
The Eu

Since the early 1990s a dominant modernist narrative has assumed that European integration and the progressive march of secularism, multiculturalism and increased material prosperity would lead to the fading-away of tribal, national, racial and other parochial identities; identities ostensibly incompatible with a meta-national 'European' identity founded not in ethnosymbolic myth, but in cosmopolitanism. This has informed not only academic theory but has also guided 60 years of EU policy making, with Ernst Haas' doctrine of neofunctionalist spill-over dominating European assumptions that a pan-European identity would replace national affiliations. Brexit contradicts this in four ways. First, Brexit demonstrates the renewed appeal of ethnic nationalism on multiple levels: nationalist (British), sub-nationalist (English), and meta-nationalist (white nationalism). Second, Brexit demonstrates shifts in traditional nationalism in the form of gulfs in a neo-medieval society. Third, Brexit demonstrates the existence of multiple and incompatible 'European' identities. Finally, Brexit demonstrates how a specifically EUropean identity can be just as hostile and exclusionary as ethnic nationalism. This reappearance of social discord, ethnosymbolic identities, and the praxis of ethnic identity exemplified by the British, but seen across the EU, necessitates a fundamental reconsideration of the apparently irreversible trends of an unfalsifiable theory of modernist, neofunctionalist progressivism in the form of European integration. Using the British as a case study, this paper argues that the very processes of European integration have, by accelerating antagonistic national and EU identities, inadvertently constructed the apparatus for EUrope's potential disintegration.

scholarly journals Europeanness: A Path To Unity Within The European Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61
Author(s):  
Ryszard Piasecki ◽  
Jan Woroniecki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
National Identities ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The West ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
European Values ◽  
European Education ◽  
Proactive Measures ◽  
The Eu

The postwar experience has shown that the implanting of European consciousness, or Europeanness, calls for coordinated efforts among the European institutions, national states, and NGOs. Such consciousness, a key pillar of the European integration, is necessary for the EU to effectively function and motivate member states’ – also the EU’s – citizens. And yet European institutions and EU governments show little interest in promoting the formation of this European consciousness. Pro-European social movements are weak, while anti-European ones gain strength. This désintéressement of the EU countries probably results from the conviction that the goal has been reached and that there is no more need for a widespread pro-European education of their societies. However analysis of the problem, and in particular of the interaction between European and national identities, shows that this is not the case. We fear that this lack of proactive measures mobilizing EU citizens to keep on struggling for a common Europe will lead to the erosion of existing achievements of integration within the EU, and undermine European values. It may threaten the future of the EU, which is not an ordinary integration grouping but a great peaceful, civilizational, social and economic project. Our hypothesis – positively verified in this article – is that the promotion of Europeanness in the EU societies is urgently needed to maintain the unity (and even membership) of the Union, and to avert trends unfavorable for all of Europe and therefore for the West as a whole.

Politics in the European Union

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Bulmer ◽  
Owen Parker ◽  
Ian Bache ◽  
Stephen George ◽  
Charlotte Burns
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Distinctive Character ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Theoretical Developments

Politics in the European Union examines the theory, history, institutions, and policies of the European Union (EU). The EU is a unique, complex, and ever-changing political entity, which continues to shape both international politics and the politics of its individual member states. The text provides a clear analysis of the organization and presents a well-rounded introduction to the subject. Complete and detailed in its coverage, including coverage of the eurozone, refugee crises, and Brexit, along with the latest theoretical developments, the text provides a comprehensive assessment of EU politics and policy at the start of the 2020s. The book is divided into four parts: Part One provides the student with a strong foundation in political theory and analysis; Part Two charts European integration from 1995 through to the 2010s; Part Three addresses the distinctive character of the EU institutions; and in Part Four, key EU policy areas, both internal and external, are covered.

A Union of Peoples

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavlos Eleftheriadis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Domestic Institutions ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Rival Theory ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
The Eu

This book offers a legal and political theory of the European Union. Many political and legal philosophers compare the EU to a federal union. They believe that its basic laws should be subject to the standards of constitutional law. They thus find it lacking or incomplete. This book offers a rival theory. If one looks more closely at the treaties and the precedents of the European courts, one sees that the substance of EU law is international, not constitutional. Just like international law, it applies primarily to the relations between states. It binds domestic institutions directly only when the local constitutions allow it. The member states have democratically chosen to adapt their constitutional arrangements in order to share legislative and executive powers with their partners. The legal architecture of the European Union is thus best understood under a theory of dualism and not pluralism. According to this internationalist view, EU law is part of the law of nations and its distinction from domestic law is a matter of substance, not form. This arrangement is supported by a cosmopolitan theory of international justice, which we may call progressive internationalism. The EU is a union of democratic peoples, that freely organize their interdependence on the basis of principles of equality and reciprocity. Its central principles are not the principles of a constitution, but cosmopolitan principles of accountability, liberty, and fairness,

'Poland Has Always Been in Europe'

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marysia Galbraith
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Careful Observation ◽  
Meaningful Engagement ◽  
Global Imaginary ◽  
European Union Studies ◽  
The Eu ◽  
National Borders

The paper explores ways in which individuals make use of the opportunities and resources provided by the European Union (EU), and how such instrumentalities can make the concept of Europe more salient for citizens. This is important to European Union studies generally because careful observation and analysis of everyday engagements can help to reveal the basis upon which the EU gains legitimacy, or, alternatively, the grounds for resistance to further integration. Through an examination of Poles' experiences of mobility, and their reflections about crossing national borders to work and travel, the paper shows that instrumentality is not just motivated by economic interests, but also by the desire to advance culturally, socially and symbolically within a global imaginary of hierarchically ranked nations. As such, support for European integration tends to weaken in situations where ongoing inequalities and exclusions lead to perceptions of social demotion. Further, instrumentalities can deepen meaningful engagement with the EU in ways that also reassert national loyalties.

scholarly journals State industrial policy in conditions European integration of Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-153
Author(s):  
Valeriі Rіeznikov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Industrial Policy ◽  
Conformity Assessment ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Industrial Products ◽  
Market Surveillance ◽  
Mutual Recognition Agreement ◽  
The Eu

Since the beginning of 2020, there have been crisis phenomena around the world due to the global slowdown in economic growth and the introduction of quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic. In this situation, the most vulnerable are developing countries with a small margin of safety, which, unfortunately, also applies to Ukraine, whose economy is open and highly dependent on external markets. Due to the slowdown in the growth of the global economy, the situation in one of the main export industries of Ukraine – industry is deteriorating first of all. The European Union has become one of the important export markets for Ukraine’s industrial products in recent years, which has raised the issue of shaping a relevant state industrial policy in today’s challenging environment. The purpose of the article is to determine the directions of formation and implementation of state industrial policy in the conditions of European integration of Ukraine in modern conditions. In 2020, due to the economic crisis and the pandemic of the coronavirus, the Ukrainian industry may lose even more due to low demand for ferrous metals in world markets, including in EU countries. The Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products is a way of eliminating technical barriers to trade between Ukraine and the EU. The Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products is a type of mutual recognition agreement that requires a partner country to align its legislation, practices and infrastructure with EU rules.It is envisaged that in the sectors covered by this Agreement, Ukrainian exporters will be able to label their products with the CE mark and to sell them freely on the EU market without additional EU certification. Potentially, the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products could cover up to a fifth of Ukraine’s exports to the EU, notably mechanical engineering products. The formation and implementation of state industrial policy in the conditions of European integration of Ukraine should take place using the following algorithm:1. Study of the new EU Regulation 2019/1020 of 20.06.2019 on market surveillance and conformity of products and elaboration of relevant amendments to the legislation of Ukraine.2. Concentration of the function of legal coordination of draft regulatory acts (including technical regulations) aimed at implementing the Association Agreement and preparation for the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products in one state instance, equipped with specialized personnel with adequate knowledge of EU law and languages.3. Strengthening the requirements for the accreditation and oversight process for accredited bodies, as well as the process of designating and monitoring conformity assessment bodies to ensure that their technical competence is adequate and to prevent fraud and the use of fraudulent practices.4. In the absence of a rapid prospect of concluding an Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products, the harmonization of procedures and requirements that are too burdensome for exporters and importers, first and foremost.5. Paying particular attention to capacity building of state market surveillance authorities.6. Raising awareness of business entities and enhancing the role of business associations in raising such awareness.7. Increasing the EU’s interest in providing Ukraine with effective technical assistance for the development of legislation and the proper functioning of quality infrastructure and market surveillance authorities. Introduce the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Industry and launch support programs for the real economy. Thus, Ukraine’s further integration with the European Union is largely linked to the formulation and implementation of relevant industrial policy, which should be to continue reforming all sectors of the economy, in particular, to modernize the industrial complex. And the signing of the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products in the three priority sectors («industrial visa waiver») in the medium term should become one of the main foreign economic priorities of Ukraine’s European integration in the face of the current challenges of today.

scholarly journals Why Europe Does not Need a Constitution: On the Limits of Constituent Power as a Tool for Democratization

Res Publica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliénor Ballangé
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Cautious Approach ◽  
Theoretical Hypothesis ◽  
The Eu

AbstractIn this article, I question the use of the notion of ‘constituent power’ as a tool for the democratization of the European Union (EU). Rather than seeing the absence of a transnational constituent power as a cause of the EU’s ‘democratic deficit’, I identify it as an opportunity for unfettered democratic participation. Against the reification of power-in-action into a power-constituted-in-law, I argue that the democratization of the EU can only be achieved through the multiplication of ‘constituent moments’. I begin by deconstructing the normative justifications surrounding the concept of constituent power. Here I analyze the structural aporia of constituent power and question the autonomous and emancipatory dimension of this notion. I then test the theoretical hypothesis of this structural aporia of the popular constituent power by comparing it with the historical experiments of a European popular constituent power. Finally, based on these theoretical and empirical observations, I propose to replace the ambivalence of the concept of popular constituent power with a more cautious approach to the bottom-up democratization of European integration: that of a multiplication of transnational constituent moments.

scholarly journals Divergence of romano-germanic and anglo-american legal systems on the example of brexit

2020 ◽  
pp. 144-153
Author(s):  
Tetjana Humeniuk
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Mutual Transformation ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
The Eu

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to analyze topical issues of divergence of the Romano-Germanic and Anglo-American legal systems on the example of Brexit. Methodology. The methodology involves a comprehensive study of theoretical and practical material on this subject, as well as formulation of relevant conclusions and recommendations. The following methods of scientific cognition were used in the research process: dialectical, terminological, formal and logical, comparative and legal, system and functional methods. Results. The study found that an important role in resolving conflicts between EU law and UK national law was played by the Court of Justice of the European Union which declared British legislation invalid since it was not in line with EU law. Thanks to the case law of the CJEU and the national courts of the United Kingdom, it has been possible to adjust and harmonize the interaction between EU law and the national law of this country. As European integration is formed on the basis of a supreme legal force created by external (supranational) bodies, the national bodies that form the national rules of British law inevitably give up part of their powers in favor of EU law. Brexit is just the beginning of a long series of problematic issues that will arise in the EU as a result of member states’ more or less serious objections to a radical course to deepen European integration. And under such conditions, there is a widespread understanding that finding clear and effective answers to new challenges requires finding new conceptual (and most importantly, effective) approaches to the future functioning of the EU, as old mechanisms and methods no longer work properly and do not resolve contradictions spreading and becoming more acute. Scientific novelty. The study shows that the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union initiates a large-scale process of mutual transformation of the legal systems of both parties, the effectiveness of which will be determined by the realities of European geopolitical environment as well as domestic political processes within Great Britain itself. Practical importance. Research materials can be used for comparative law studies.

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