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This paper questions the introduction, in the mid-1990s, of the concept of European identity for the analysis of citizens' attitudes towards European integration. It argues that this notion was imported from social psychology without appropriate theoretical adaptation to the political democratic nature of the social group that a European polity would be. As a consequence, the current notion of European identity does not contribute very much to an understanding of the long-standing national and social differences of citizens' attitude towards the EU. The paper argues that for the time being, the identification process with a work-in-progress European polity should be conceived following three principles: First, European identity refers to a democratic community, that is, a special kind of social group whose vocation is self government. Thus, the link between citizens matters as much as differentiation with the others. Second, European identity is very definitively a work in progress. Lastly, it is developing in industrial societies, characterised by growing individualism but also remaining strong national identities. Building on Tilly's concept of identity and major works on national identity, this paper suggests a concept of identification with Europe that acknowledges the complexity of competitive processes at stake in identity change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper looks at young people's sense of being European in a number of European regions: Madrid and Bilbao, Vienna and Vorarlberg, Manchester and Edinburgh, Chemnitz and Bielefeld, Prague and Bratislava. We considered the ways in which 'exposure' to Europe through travel and speaking languages as well as cognitive mobilisation through discussing politics made young people aged 18-24 more European. However, the most important factor in differentiating ideas of Europe was the region itself with people in Central European regions (Austria, Germany, Czech and Slovak Republics) having much stronger European identification than those in peripheral regions (Spain and the UK). These ideas are explored using both quantitative and qualitative data from the regions and the explanations advanced are framed in terms of a theory of 'entitativity' or people's identification with something beyond themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More often than not, European identity is portrayed as one coherent identity for people across the whole continent. However, why should European identity not vary across countries? In this paper, we examine contents and structures of European identities in nine very different European countries. We draw on theoretical and normative approaches and differentiate between a political and a cultural component. In contrast to other studies, we consider national variation in the determination of the contents of both dimensions. Our findings suggest that European identities vary considerably across the continent. Certainly, there is no single picture of a European identity. A two-fold distinction between political and cultural elements prevails in some countries, whereas in other countries political and more pragmatic issues dominate the people's ideas about what it means to be European. Finally, we discuss some of the implications of these findings for policy makers at both the national and European level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]