Do EU citizens still feel European?

Starting Today, more than 400 million Europeans may go to the polls to elect members of the European Parliament. Turnout in European elections is historically low among the Dutch. In addition, Euroskeptic parties such as the European Conservatives, the Reformists, and the European United Left/Nordic Green Left are on the rise in the polls. Yet among European Union residents, the sense of a European identity has increased over the past 15 years, according to research by Theresa Kuhn, UvA professor of European Studies.

Euroskeptic parties fare well in European elections and turnout among the Dutch is historically low. In addition, we have had to deal with the euro crisis and Brexit over the past decade. Yet the connection to Europe has increased. How do you explain that?

“You would indeed think that in times of crisis people would turn away from Europe, but the opposite appears to be true. This is probably because people have become more aware of their interconnectedness. Think, for example, of the European sovereign debt crisis as an offshoot of the credit crisis after Greece failed to properly finance its debts. In that, we felt financial interdependence. But think also of the war in Ukraine in which we realized the importance of a common defense. As a result, people realize that they share a common destiny.”

“As for the Euroskeptic, often radical right-wing parties, they are not necessarily completely anti-European. Rather, they try to put that more ethnic-cultural spin on European identity, a nationalist European perspective. That contributes to a certain aspect of European identity which we also see reflected in our research.”

What else did your research reveal?

“The majority of Europeans also feel European, according to our research. To this end, we analyzed opinion polls from dozens of EU member states over the past 41 years. These included questions such as “Do you feel connected to the European flag?”, or “Are you proud to be European?”, and “Does a European identity exist?” Across the board, we see an upward trend in how far people feel connected to Europe over the years.

“That hasn’t always been the case. Around the time of the Maastricht Treaty - the EU treaty - we saw that people became more critical of the EU. Politicians including Euroskeptics began to express themselves negatively about the promises that an EU would bring.”

“Yet European identity remains a secondary identity. On statements such as ‘I feel more European than Dutch’ only a very small percentage of Dutch people agree.”

What exactly does this European identity consist of? Has it changed over time?

“There are different concepts of European identity. It often leans on two aspects. On the one hand, it includes democratic values such as tolerance and cosmopolitanism - an overall sense of belonging. On the other hand, there is a more ethnic-cultural aspect, where people think you are European if you were born here or if your roots are in Europe.”

“At the moment there is also a political battle about this: What do Europe and European identity stand for? In this we see radical right-wing parties trying to increasingly defend this ethno-cultural vision. Think of Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni or France's Marine le Pen of the right-wing Rassemblement National. They think of Europe in terms of people born here, Christian values, and strong borders to the outside world. Because of this development, I think we are at a tipping point in European politics.”

“At the moment, we are starting a new study into that European identity and whether those democratic or ethno-cultural aspects that people have in mind are related to their voting behavior. For example, we think that people who think more about ethnic identity also vote for right-wing parties such as the PVV or the German AfD.”

Is there a difference in the development of European identity between different countries within the EU?

“The longer a country is part of the EU, the more its citizens feel European by the simple fact that they have grown up longer in a European context, with the euro and lessons at school. We see this for example in member states such as the Netherlands, France, and Germany where there is a stronger sense of a common identity compared to other member states. But if we look at Italy, for example, we see that it has become much more critical since the euro crisis, which probably has to do with the way the member states dealt with each other during that time. The Netherlands, for example, was very reluctant to support Italy.”

In your research, you argue that the European Union should do even more to strengthen the sense of a European identity. Why?

“I think such a European identity is crucial to legitimize further cooperation within the EU. For example, topics such as climate and agriculture and the possible increase in cooperation in European defense are important topics where a European identity is important. In the early years of the European Union, the focus was primarily on trade and creating a single market. But if the EU wanted to introduce a European tax system, for example, or work toward a European army, this would require a sense of European identity in the population. If people do not feel connected to the decision-making at the European level and the institutions involved, then a democratic problem arises.”