On February 21st 2011 a segment was held in Swedish morning television on the topic of a common identity in the European Union. The invited guests were interviewed about their standpoint on the issue and their response was somewhat lukewarm in regard to supporters of a common European identity. With a certain degree of indifference the respondents told that the idea was more or less non-important. One of them, a photographer, argued that he felt a bigger commitment to his fellow colleagues of his profession in Bangladesh than Europeans with other trades. He also pointed out the fact that he was more inclined to embrace an urban identity than rather a European one in the first place.
Indifferent sentiment among people in the various member states of the European Union towards the concept of a common identity is presumably a potent feature. Not many citizens can readily put aside their national or ethnic identities in favour of a European one like the member of the European Parliament Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, who expressed her cosmopolitan view in the aforementioned television show. Does European identity have a function despite the apparent lack of popular support?
The development or maintaining of a nation-state often requires a certain degree of what some researchers refer to as demos. The term was historically used to label the population of an ancient Greek city-state but it is nowadays used to describe the sentiment of unity and reciprocal solidarity among people. In the book Europa, Quo Vadis? (2007) the authors Christer Jönsson, Sven Tägil and Gunnar Törnqvist implicitly argue that demos is a key feature in every nation-building. It is therefore imperative to those who advocate the transformation of the European Union into a more federal system with extended authority for its institutions in relation to the national governments. Without it there might be great hardship in maintaining legitimacy for further transfer of power to the union or even keeping it in its current state. The financial crisis of 2010 put a heavy strain on the cooperation between the member states as some of them suddenly turned into economic pariahs desperately requesting support from wealthier nations. The financial meltdown in Greece called for German funds in order to rescue the Greek economy but the action awoke severe debates in Germany on the issue whether it was a German matter to attend to the Greek situation or not. The event highlighted the importance of demos for the functioning of the union as the reciprocal solidarity of the member states was put to the test.
Creating such a sentiment is probably a vital task for people such as Corazza Bildt. The general consent among most sociologists is that identities are constructed, and as such changeable, but slow in doing so. There are however historical examples of how common identities evolved from many local allegiances inside a political entity. Around the time of the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 approximately half the population of France did not speak the French language. The kingdom was divided linguistically and people clung to their local identities, being Gascon or Norman in the first place rather than French. After a century the situation had changed and the people of France had adopted a consciousness of membership of a common nation.
The creation of a common identity for the citizens of the European Union is a slow process and requires great patience. It even seems ridiculous to imagine an European identity when some of the member states cannot even maintain a common national identity. Belgium as an example has for a very long time experienced considerable difficulties in keeping itself together as the Dutch-speaking Flemings seem to create a political path that diverges from that of the French-speaking Walloons. How are Europeans supposed to feel sympathetic to the notion of a common European identity when some of them cannot even be expected to support a common identity on a national level?
The question of demos is therefore important to the functioning of the European Union and a worrisome issue for unionists. There is however a troublesome consequence in establishing a common identity as it diminishes local variations, thus eradicating the richness of many different cultures. People such as Corazza Bildt therefore have the hard task at hand to promote a common European identity and at the same time uphold the rich fabric of different local identities. People can however seldom be categorized with only one label. A Frenchman might not only fill in for the role as Frenchman but also as father, Norman and fire-fighter. With this notion in mind there might be a possibility for the advocates of the European Union to find compromises. What keeps people from being French, Belgian, Swedish or German and European at the same time with equal value to both identities? After all, the Israeli author Amos Oz argued that compromise holds the key to life.
Daniel Nykvist
