Transnational Contact and European Identity: Identity-Formation during the Erasmus Exchange?

The Erasmus program for university student exchange was developed by the EU Commission, in part, to foster a sense of pro-Europeanism and European identity among its participants, who complete a short-term sojourn studying in another country.  The idea that cross-border interactions foster European identity is not only prevalent in the Commission, but also has solid theoretical foundations.  Social communication theory and social psychology’s common in-group identity model suggest that transnational contact is likely to enhance a sense of shared European identity.  While two previous studies of the impact of Erasmus participation on European identity report no significant effect, the findings may be biased by a focus on British students and students studying in Britain, where attitudes about European integration and the European Union (EU) are not representative of public opinion in the EU.  This paper therefore tests the hypothesis that Erasmus participation is positively related to changes European identity by analyzing a novel panel study of 1729 students from 29 universities in six countries, the largest and most multi-national panel study on this topic.  The longitudinal design of the study allows for an examination of identity changes over time, while the inclusion of a sedentary control group allows for a comparison of mobile and non-mobile students.  Preliminary analysis of the data suggests that transnational contact is indeed positively and significantly associated with enhanced European identity over the course of the Erasmus exchange.