L'obbiettivo della tesi è la ricostruzione del discorso sull'identità europea. Inizialmente vengono rintracciate varie correnti di questo discorso su diversi livelli discorsivi (politico, scientifico e mass mediale). L'analisi empirica si rivolge poi sul dibattito sull'ingresso della Turchia nell'Unione Europea svoltasi nei mass media tedeschi ed italiani. A questo scopo vengono analizzati articoli di respettivamente tre grandi quotidiani per ogni area discorsiva (Germania ed Italia) che trattano la questione dell'ingresso della Turchia nell'UE. Il quadro metodologico si rifa alla analisi del discorso foucaultiano.:1 INTRODUZIONE 3 2 DEFINIZIONE E DELIMITAZIONE DELL’OGGETTO DI RICERCA 8 2.1 Il discorso sull’identità europea – un tentativo di ricostruzione 8 2.1.1 Identità – un concetto chiave della ricerca sociale contemporanea 8 2.1.2 Il discorso politico sull’identità europea a livello comunitario 12 2.1.3 Il discorso accademico sull’identità europea 20 2.1.4 Il discorso pubblico sull’identità europea 30 2.2 Il dibattito sull’ingresso della Turchia nell’Unione Europea 33 2.2.1 La Turchia e l’Unione Europea – una breve sintesi storica 33 2.2.2 Il dibattito sull’ingresso della Turchia nell’Unione Europea 36 2.2.3 Il dibattito in Italia 38 2.2.4 Il dibattito in Germania 40 3 I FONDAMENTI TEORICI E METODOLOGICI 43 3.1 L’analisi del discorso come programma di ricerca 43 3.1.1 La teoria del discorso di Foucault 45 3.1.2 Approcci discorsivi nell’ambito degli Studi Europei 49 3.1.3 L’analisi del discorso nella sociologia della conoscenza di Keller 55 3.2 Identità Europea come oggetto di un’analisi del discorso: la realizzazione pratica della ricerca 62 4 ANALISI DEL MATERIALE EMPIRICO 67 4.1 Supposizioni a priori del dibattito 68 4.1.1 La classificazione basale: Europa – Turchia 68 4.1.2 La classificazione basale: Eurocrati – Cittadini europei 78 4.1.3 La definizione della situazione: lo scontro delle civiltà 82 4.2 Correnti discorsive 89 4.2.1 La corrente tradizionalistica 90 4.2.2 La corrente modernistica 93 4.3 Concetti d’Europa 96 4.3.1 L’Europa come continente 96 4.3.2 L’Europa come erede dell’Occidente cristiano 98 4.3.3 L’Europa: arte e cultura 101 4.3.4 L’Europa come comunità di valori 102 4.3.5 L’Europa: progresso tecnico e benessere economico 108 4.3.6 L’Europa come comunità della memoria storica 110 4.3.7 L’Europa come costruzione collettiva 112 4.4 Il confronto dei due campi discorsivi 114 5 CONCLUSIONE 118 6 BIBLIOGRAFIA 122 7 APPENDICE 130 7.1 Elenco delle sigle 130 7.2 Elenco degli articoli 131 7.2.1 Il Corriere della Sera 131 7.2.2 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 132 7.2.3 Il Manifesto 133 7.2.4 La Repubblica 133 7.2.5 Süddeutsche Zeitung 134 7.2.6 die tageszeitung 135 / Gegenstand der Diplomarbeit ist die Rekonstruktion des Diskurses zur europäischen Identität untersucht am Beispiel der Türkeibeitrittsdebatte in Deutschland und in Italien. Dazu wurden Beiträge aus jeweils drei überregionalen Tageszeitungen im Zeitraum 2005 einer wissenssoziologischen Diskursanalyse unterzogen.:1 INTRODUZIONE 3 2 DEFINIZIONE E DELIMITAZIONE DELL’OGGETTO DI RICERCA 8 2.1 Il discorso sull’identità europea – un tentativo di ricostruzione 8 2.1.1 Identità – un concetto chiave della ricerca sociale contemporanea 8 2.1.2 Il discorso politico sull’identità europea a livello comunitario 12 2.1.3 Il discorso accademico sull’identità europea 20 2.1.4 Il discorso pubblico sull’identità europea 30 2.2 Il dibattito sull’ingresso della Turchia nell’Unione Europea 33 2.2.1 La Turchia e l’Unione Europea – una breve sintesi storica 33 2.2.2 Il dibattito sull’ingresso della Turchia nell’Unione Europea 36 2.2.3 Il dibattito in Italia 38 2.2.4 Il dibattito in Germania 40 3 I FONDAMENTI TEORICI E METODOLOGICI 43 3.1 L’analisi del discorso come programma di ricerca 43 3.1.1 La teoria del discorso di Foucault 45 3.1.2 Approcci discorsivi nell’ambito degli Studi Europei 49 3.1.3 L’analisi del discorso nella sociologia della conoscenza di Keller 55 3.2 Identità Europea come oggetto di un’analisi del discorso: la realizzazione pratica della ricerca 62 4 ANALISI DEL MATERIALE EMPIRICO 67 4.1 Supposizioni a priori del dibattito 68 4.1.1 La classificazione basale: Europa – Turchia 68 4.1.2 La classificazione basale: Eurocrati – Cittadini europei 78 4.1.3 La definizione della situazione: lo scontro delle civiltà 82 4.2 Correnti discorsive 89 4.2.1 La corrente tradizionalistica 90 4.2.2 La corrente modernistica 93 4.3 Concetti d’Europa 96 4.3.1 L’Europa come continente 96 4.3.2 L’Europa come erede dell’Occidente cristiano 98 4.3.3 L’Europa: arte e cultura 101 4.3.4 L’Europa come comunità di valori 102 4.3.5 L’Europa: progresso tecnico e benessere economico 108 4.3.6 L’Europa come comunità della memoria storica 110 4.3.7 L’Europa come costruzione collettiva 112 4.4 Il confronto dei due campi discorsivi 114 5 CONCLUSIONE 118 6 BIBLIOGRAFIA 122 7 APPENDICE 130 7.1 Elenco delle sigle 130 7.2 Elenco degli articoli 131 7.2.1 Il Corriere della Sera 131 7.2.2 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 132 7.2.3 Il Manifesto 133 7.2.4 La Repubblica 133 7.2.5 Süddeutsche Zeitung 134 7.2.6 die tageszeitung 135

The Russian invasion of Ukraine changed the security environment of Europe overnight. This study addresses how this affected the rhetoric regarding European identity and the threats to it, in the Finnish parliament insecurity related discussions. It does this by employing the three part framework of social identity used by Brewer and Herman in their bookabout European identity. The framework contains three aspects: the composition, the content and the in-group out-group perceptions of identity. It attempts to unearth these aspects of European identity, byemploying concepts such as nested identity and the division between ethnicand cultural identity. The study presents the results of qualitative contentanalysis with quantitative elements of Finnish parliamentary sessions fromthe Spring of 2022. The study concludes that European Identity is used inthe Finnish parliament to both increase Finnish sense of security whilebuilding solidarity with Ukraine. The nature of European identity isprimarily civil and the threats towards it are also conceived as civil threats,however with the caveats that all national/political identities are a mix ofethnic and civil elements. The study also concludes that both EU andEuropean identity matter, but that European identity is more universal.

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a compelling question arises, could this event have brought Europeans closer? Armed conflicts often strengthen in-group identity as individuals seek safety from external threats. This study speculates that the perceived threat of the invasion might have intensified emotional attachments to Europe across the continent. Additionally, it explores how the response differed between Western Europe and Central and Eastern European countries. This study bases its conceptualization, hypotheses, and interpretations on social identity theory, alongside a comprehensive review of the literature on armed conflict and identity. Utilizing a quasi-experimental method to investigate the probable causal link and using 12 countries from the 10th round of the European Social Survey to generalize the findings across a diverse European population. The findings reveal that Europeans did not develop a stronger sense of European identity in response to the invasion, suggesting that Europeans do not perceive Europe as a meaningful identity to unite under or seek safety in when military conflicts intensify on the continent. This study contributes to the understanding that the European project, along with its socio-political efforts, has been relatively unsuccessful in establishing itself as a significant unifying point when conflicts intensify.

Etude des relations entre représentations sociales et identités sociales dans le domaine des appartenances géopolitiques (régions, nations, Europe). L'introduction explore les liens conceptuels entre la théorie des Représentations Sociales (Moscovici, 1961) et les théories de l'Identité Sociale (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) et de l'Auto-catégorisation (Turner et al., 1987). Ces liens sont ensuite étudiés au travers de trois séries d'études empiriques. La première porte sur les effets du contexte de comparaison intergroupes sur les auto-stéréotypes des Belges francophones et néerlandophones. La seconde est consacrée à l'étude des relations entre identités nationale et européenne et les représentations sociales du processus d'intégration européenne. Enfin, la troisième étude empirique concerne les relations entre représentations sociales et processus identitaires en période de crise à travers une étude des explications profanes de l'affaire Dutroux (kidnapping et meurtre d'enfants)./Doctoral thesis on the relation between social representations and social identities in the framework of geopolitical memberships (regions, nations, Europe). The introduction explores the conceptual links between Social Representations Theory (Moscovici, 1961), and Social Identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) and Self-categorisation (Turner et al., 1987) theories. These links are then studied from different perspectives through three series of empirical studies. The first series addresses the effects of the context of inter-group comparison on self-stereotypes held by French-speaking and Dutch-speaking Belgians. The second is devoted to the study of the relations between national and European identities and social representations of the European integration process. Finally, a third empirical study examines the relations between social representations and identity processes in a period of crisis through a study of naïve explanations of the Dutroux affair (kidnapping and murder of children).

Les Asiatiques n‘ont, jusqu'à présent, jamais eu l‘occasion d‘organiser leur paix propre. C‘est sur ce chemin qu‘il faut chercher une forme de coexistence et de coopération asiatique tout comme l‘Europe l‘a réalisée après la seconde guerre mondiale. C‘est pour cette raison que l‘idée d‘unification européenne et en particulier celle de Jean Monnet est capitale. Bien entendu, il ne s‘agit pas de transposer mécaniquement et intégralement un modèle européen théorique, en écartant tout particularisme asiatique, mais plutôt de reprendre l‘esprit et les idées du modèle ainsi que la démarche (voire la méthodologie) adoptée lors de sa construction. / (no summary)

Ce mémoire part du constat que l’histoire et, a fortiori, la mémoire ont été largement sollicitées par le discours officiel français au moment et au lendemain de la réunification allemande. La fin définitive de l’après-guerre et le retour à la souveraineté diplomatique de l’Allemagne suscitent en France des questions qui inquiètent – en raison notamment du souvenir de l’histoire – et raniment la volonté d’encadrer la puissance allemande dans la communauté européenne. Pour comprendre le rôle que la mémoire a pu tenir dans la diplomatie française, l’étude tente d’analyser l’usage que les responsables français ont fait du passé en tant qu’instrument de la politique étrangère et le poids qu’il a représenté dans la vision française de l’unification allemande. Ce mémoire démontre que l’entendement du passé se conforme, sous toutes ses expressions, à la politique européenne de la France. Il atteste également que la France se saisit de ce moment charnière pour structurer un espace européen qui fait écho aux principes universalistes issus de la Révolution française, lesquels doivent être désormais portés par le binôme franco-allemand. L’invention de la tradition et l’usage métaphorique du passé répondent d’une préoccupation politique de réconciliation franco-allemande et accompagnent la mise en place d’un patriotisme historique sur lequel pourront s’établir les identités civique et juridique européennes. La mémoire officielle, qui est entièrement orientée vers la promotion et la justification de l’avenir communautaire, dénature certaines données historiques de manière à exorciser le présent d’un passé encombrant. Les limites de la mémoire officielle se trouvent donc dans cette représentation d’un passé aseptisé; un passé n’étant pas une finalité, mais un moyen déférant à l’intérêt national. / This dissertation analyzes references to history and, a fortiori, to memory in the official French discourse during and after German unification. Partly because of history, the definitive end of the post-war years and the return of German diplomatic sovereignty caused concern in France, and revived the resolve to contain German influence in the European community. In order to understand the role played by memory in French diplomacy, this dissertation assesses how French leaders used the past as an instrument of foreign policy, and to what extent it influenced the French vision of German unification. It shows that the understanding of the past complies, in all its expressions, with France’s European policy. Furthermore, it confirms that France seized this turning point to structure a European space appealing to the universalist principles stemming from the French Revolution, which, it was hoped, would henceforth be carried by the French-German couple. The invention of tradition and the metaphoric use of the past echo a concern to foster Franco-German reconciliation and are essential to the creation of an historical patriotism on which to build a common European civic and legal identity. Entirely oriented towards the promotion and justification of the European future, official memory distorts some historical facts in order to exorcise the present of a cumbersome past. Rather than an end in itself but a means deferring to the national interest, this representation of the past shows the limits of the official memory.

Cette recherche s’est inscrite dans le champ des études sur les perceptions liées aux langues et aux cultures, ainsi que leur influence sur le positionnement identitaire des acteurs sociaux dans un contexte plurilingue et pluriculturel. Nous nous sommes intéressés plus particulièrement au cas précis des Écoles européennes et leurs élèves, les euroélèves. Nous avons motivé ce choix par le contexte unique offert pour étudier le rapport entre l’apprentissage des langues selon une approche interculturelle et le positionnement identitaire des élèves. Il s’agissait, en somme, de mieux comprendre et expliquer la notion d’« identité européenne » et de donner un sens plus précis à la notion « des Européens » (au sens des fondateurs de l’Europe comme Jean Monnet), ceci en s’appuyant sur la politique linguistique éducative des Écoles européennes et le contexte précis de l’École européenne de Luxembourg.Dans ce cadre, nous nous sommes appliquées à étudier les expériences linguistiques, culturelles et sociales des euroélèves, ainsi que les représentations culturelles engendrées, relevant aussi bien de leur propre culture que celles des autres cultures européennes. Nous avons ensuite tenté de comprendre dans quelle mesure les interactions entre ces éléments influencent le positionnement identitaire des euroélèves et leur rapport avec les Autres. Pour ce faire, sur le plan méthodologique, nous avons mené une étude empirique dont la dimension ethnosociologique a constitué l’aspect le plus important. Nous avons motivé ce choix par le caractère culturellement situé des représentations culturelles et de la manière dont les individus (ici euroélèves) interprètent leurs propres expériences linguistiques et culturelles. Aussi, nous avons procédé par une enquête ethnosociologique basée sur une combinaison de plusieurs méthodes de collecte de données (observation, entrevue et analyse documentaire). Cette approche nous a permis de non seulement identifier les représentations culturelles (au travers d’une analyse fine des paroles des acteurs sociaux interviewés), mais également de les situer dans leur contexte socioculturel. Il résulte de ces travaux de nouvelles représentations socioculturelles et une typologie inédite du positionnement identitaire chez les euroélèves, dont l’origine se trouve dans le nombre assez important de facteurs langagiers et culturels qui entrent en jeu dans la façon dont ils se perçoivent et se définissant sur le plan identitaire et dont nous avons retenu et exposé plus amplement trois formes identitaires représentatives et plus particulièrement l’« identité européenne ». Tout en confirmant le caractère dynamique du processus de construction identitaire chez les euroélèves, notre recherche met de plus en évidence sa nature progressiste, où le terme « progrès » symbolise un certain dépassement de barrières intellectuelles de la perception des Autres, lequel semble une condition nécessaire pour assurer la transition vers une « identité européenne ». Nos travaux ouvrent également de nouvelles pistes de recherche sur la question épineuse de positionnement identitaire dans un milieu plurilingue et pluriculturel dont la piste sociopsychologique, basée sur les travaux de Lev Vygotski, nous semble sur le plan théorique particulièrement intéressante. / This research is part of the wider study of how languages and cultures are perceived, and how they influence the identity positioning of social actors in a multilingual and multicultural context. More specifically, this study focuses on the European Schools and their students, the Eurostudents. This choice was motivated by the unique context these schools offer for studying the relationship between language acquisition premised on an intercultural approach on the one hand, and the identity positioning of students on the other. In sum, the point was to better understand and explain the notion of a “European identity” and to give more precise meaning to the notion of “Europeans” as conceived by the founders of the European Union such as Jean Monnet, all in the context of the European School in Luxembourg and the educational language policy it practises. I set out to study the linguistic, cultural, and social experiences of the Eurostudents and the cultural representations these engendered, both of their own culture and of other European cultures. I then tried to understand how the interactions among these elements affect the identity positioning of the Eurostudents and their relationship with Others. My methodology consisted of an empirical study whose ethno-sociological dimension was the most important one. This choice was motivated by the fact that cultural representation and the manner in which individuals, in this case the Eurostudents, interpret their linguistic and cultural experiences are culturally situated. I conducted an ethno-sociological investigation consisting of a combination of observation, interviewing, and analysis of documents. This allowed me to not only identify the cultural representations (through a detailed analysis of what the social actors said in the interviews), but also to situate these cultural representations in their sociocultural context. The study revealed new sociocultural representations and a novel typology of identity positionings on the part of Eurostudents the origins of which lie in the rather important number of language and cultural factors that affect the way these students perceive themselves and define their identity. I selected three identity positionings revealed by this new typology for wider discussion, including a “European identity”. My study confirms that the identity construction of the Eurostudents is a dynamic process, and my research also reveals that it is progressive, where the term “progress” symbolizes a certain transcendence of the intellectual barriers through which Others are perceived, which is a necessary condition for effecting a transition towards a “European identity”. My work also opens up new perspectives for further research on the thorny question of how identity is positioned in a multilingual and multicultural milieu, a question for the study of which the socio-psychological approach associated with Lev Vygotski seems to be the theoretically most promising one.

This thesis analyses four European writers, whose common denominator is that they have moved to Sweden from other European countries and chosen to write in Swedish: Caterina Pascual Söderbaum, Theodor Kallifatides, Gabriela Melinescu and Sigrid Combüchen. Focus lies on novels published by the authors in the 21st century. The thesis builds upon theories on memory by Pierre Nora and on imagined communities by Benedict Anderson, Chiara Bottici and Benoît Challand. In Imagined Communities, Anderson shows the effects of the emerging nation states on the modern novel in the 19th century. The hypothesis of this study is that the emergence of the European Union and the resulting European movement will affect narratives in a similar way, but on a European rather than national level. The main finding seems to confirm this, showing that an imagined European community takes shape in the studied novels, surpassing that of the nation state’s borders.  All writers focus on memories, but in two different ways: Kallifatides and Melinescu depict long memories, starting in ancient times and with a positive view on remembrance as a focus on what is in common for Europeans. Pascual Söderbaum and Combüchen, on the other hand, depict memories from the dark 20th century and the importance of forgetting and moving on in order to give future generations freedom. In most novels, however, there are examples of lieux de mémoire (sites of memory), with Nora’s terminology, expanding towards a common European identity, in spite of the plethora of myths and languages. / Den här uppsatsen analyserar fyra europeiska författare vars gemensamma nämnare är att de har flyttat till Sverige från andra europeiska länder och valt att skriva på svenska: Caterina Pascual Söderbaum, Theodor Kallifatides, Gabriela Melinescu och Sigrid Combüchen. I fokus är romaner som givits ut av författarna under 2000-talet. Uppsatsen bygger på teorier om minne av Pierre Nora och föreställda gemenskaper av Benedict Anderson, Chiara Bottici och Benoît Challand. I Imagined Communities visar Anderson vilken påverkan de framväxande nationalstaterna hade på den moderna romanen under artonhundratalet. Den här uppsatsens hypotes är att framväxten av EU och den europeiska rörlighet som EU resulterat i påverkar narrativen på ett liknande sätt, men på en europeisk snarare än nationell nivå. De viktigaste resultaten tycks i huvudsak bekräfta denna hypotes, och visar på hur en föreställd europeisk gemenskap tar form i de studerade romanerna, en gemenskap som överskrider nationalstatens gränser. Samtliga författare fokuserar på minnen, men på två vitt skilda sätt: Kallifatides och Melinescu skildrar långa minnen med början i antiken och en positiv syn på hågkomst som det som förenar européer. Pascual Söderbaum och Combüchen, å andra sidan, skildrar minnen av det mörka nittonhundratalet och vikten av att glömma bort och gå vidare för att ge framtida generationer frihet. I de flesta romaner finns det dock exempel på lieux de mémoire (minnesplatser), med Noras terminologi, som vidgar sig mot en gemensam europeisk identitet, trots den stora mångfalden av myter och språk.

Ce mémoire part du constat que l’histoire et, a fortiori, la mémoire ont été largement sollicitées par le discours officiel français au moment et au lendemain de la réunification allemande. La fin définitive de l’après-guerre et le retour à la souveraineté diplomatique de l’Allemagne suscitent en France des questions qui inquiètent – en raison notamment du souvenir de l’histoire – et raniment la volonté d’encadrer la puissance allemande dans la communauté européenne. Pour comprendre le rôle que la mémoire a pu tenir dans la diplomatie française, l’étude tente d’analyser l’usage que les responsables français ont fait du passé en tant qu’instrument de la politique étrangère et le poids qu’il a représenté dans la vision française de l’unification allemande. Ce mémoire démontre que l’entendement du passé se conforme, sous toutes ses expressions, à la politique européenne de la France. Il atteste également que la France se saisit de ce moment charnière pour structurer un espace européen qui fait écho aux principes universalistes issus de la Révolution française, lesquels doivent être désormais portés par le binôme franco-allemand. L’invention de la tradition et l’usage métaphorique du passé répondent d’une préoccupation politique de réconciliation franco-allemande et accompagnent la mise en place d’un patriotisme historique sur lequel pourront s’établir les identités civique et juridique européennes. La mémoire officielle, qui est entièrement orientée vers la promotion et la justification de l’avenir communautaire, dénature certaines données historiques de manière à exorciser le présent d’un passé encombrant. Les limites de la mémoire officielle se trouvent donc dans cette représentation d’un passé aseptisé; un passé n’étant pas une finalité, mais un moyen déférant à l’intérêt national. / This dissertation analyzes references to history and, a fortiori, to memory in the official French discourse during and after German unification. Partly because of history, the definitive end of the post-war years and the return of German diplomatic sovereignty caused concern in France, and revived the resolve to contain German influence in the European community. In order to understand the role played by memory in French diplomacy, this dissertation assesses how French leaders used the past as an instrument of foreign policy, and to what extent it influenced the French vision of German unification. It shows that the understanding of the past complies, in all its expressions, with France’s European policy. Furthermore, it confirms that France seized this turning point to structure a European space appealing to the universalist principles stemming from the French Revolution, which, it was hoped, would henceforth be carried by the French-German couple. The invention of tradition and the metaphoric use of the past echo a concern to foster Franco-German reconciliation and are essential to the creation of an historical patriotism on which to build a common European civic and legal identity. Entirely oriented towards the promotion and justification of the European future, official memory distorts some historical facts in order to exorcise the present of a cumbersome past. Rather than an end in itself but a means deferring to the national interest, this representation of the past shows the limits of the official memory.

During the last two decades the citizens’ trust in the European Union (EU) has decreased. It has been established that the Union suffer from a democratic deficit which has caused it to impose so called “identity-policies”. There is a need for the citizens to identify with the Union as a foundation of its legitimacy. But there is a problem since there is no clear idea of who constitutes “the people” in the European case. Democratic theory presupposes a demos and a polity. The problem of the EU is that there are difficulties defining the ‘demos’ – there are difficulties identifying ‘the people’. The fact that the EU is in a situation where it has to deal with ‘peoples’ instead of a ‘people’ (demoi instead of demos) makes it more difficult since demos is closely related to the ‘nation’. Only nations may have states, thus the EU may not have a state. Hence it is difficult for the EU to conceptualize a demos, and without a demos there cannot be democracy. By arguing in this way the great need to create a ‘peoples’ Europe’ is understandable. The thesis will concentrate on why there is a lack of a demos, or a “We-feeling”, within the Union, why this is a source of anxiety, and what possibly could unite the Union. Attempts have been made to create a ‘European’ identity through constitution-making (however, a new constitution was recently rejected) and citizenship rights. The Union has also adopted a number of symbols to facilitate the citizens in identifying with the Union. Most of these symbols have been similar to those of the memberstates, thus, the Union has tried to use the methods of nation-building to overcome the legitimacy problem. Still, there is a lack of uniqueness of the Union. This may be for various reasons. Institution-building and constitution-making cannot alone provide democratic legitimacy; social practice and contestation must be included. This should take place in a public sphere but, in order to ‘have’ a public sphere, there must be a certain degree of collective identification. It has also been claimed that there is a ‘European’ culture stemming from three ancient treasure houses (the ancient Near East, the ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire). Since culture is based on norms, i.e. customs, attitudes, beliefs, and values of a society, it is of importance to the Union when this is what politics are based on. The study of this topic is relevant since the EU has an increased impact on the lives of its citizens, yet troubles to reach them. There is a lack of communication between the Union and its citizens and the democratic deficit becomes more and more obvious. The methods used by the Union do not seem successful and the issue of a European identity has become a source of anxiety.