THE IDENTITY PROBLEM in THE EUROPEAN UNION; THE MODEL of “RATIONAL EUROPE”

Abstract

The discussions on who the Europeans are still continuing as in the past and it seems that such discussions will exist in the future. Judging the discussions and analyses of the scientistists and experts on the topic, it seems that they have not been able to reach a consensus on where the boundaries of Europe begin and finish and who the Europeans are. The studies show that the priority of the European Union has been such common interests as the unity in economy and safety, rather than the identity. In other words, in order to frame peace and stability, the Union has given priority on defending Europe from all threats. To achieve this, the Union brought France and Germany, which led to battles in Europe, together under the roof of the union and transferred the control of such important mines as coal and steel to a supra-national organ. Between 1958 and 1992, the European states went through various stages and dealt with economic integration process. Having a common market community in 1992, the Union tried to develop political relations among the member states after 1993. However, the European states did not have any serious efforts forming an European identity. With the Maastricht Treaty, which was put into action in 1993, the European states began to give importance on political collaboration and laid the foundation of having a common European identity. However, today it can be seen that despite the efforts of the union on identity, it has been unsuccessful at such a goal. In this study, it is analyzed whether the member states in the union will be able to converge on the issue of common identity. Besides, the study analyses how the European identity is perceived within Europe and outside Europe, because there are different opinions about what the European identity is and how it should be. At the end of the study, it is concluded that the factors holding the union together are not the common identity but the shared projects and goals.