The European Identity and the Public Support for European Integration, a Critical Perspective

This paper challenges from a theoretical and empirical perspective the thesis that the European integration would be hampered by the lack of identity of the European or by their national identities (Carey, 2002 ; Smith, 1992, 2006). In a theoretical perspective I shall set forth a conceptual description of beliefs and identity allowing the integration of the main results in researches on the support for European integration (Gabell, 1998 ; Hooghe, Marks, 2004, 2005;  Inglehart, 1970; Loveless, 2010). In the empirical perspective, I shall conduct a quantitative analysis in three steps so as to evidence the empirical implications of such a theoretical approach. Using data coming from the Eurobarometer I will firstly evidence the lack of correlation between the variables aiming at measuring European identity and those measuring the support for the European integration or for federalism. Secondly, I will show that this support depends upon beliefs about the economic prosperity of the European Union (EU) and the social protection it offers. Thirdly I will show that European Identity is related to other systems of beliefs, notably the belief that the EU represents cultural diversity or that it is a mean for nation to remain strong in the world. The main argument is thus that the European identity and the support for the European integration are currently embedded in different systems of beliefs weakly related to each other.