Europe: Identity, Convergence and Expansion

Then too, some ethnic regions felt driven to adhere to one of the larger nation states for the sake of military and economic protection; these fears, however, were removed with the completion of the Common Market and the removal of the prospect of intra-European warfare.

Indeed, the very concept of the nation state has undergone change : the fundamental relationship between the nation state and the citizen has been altered in the globalising and increasingly interdependent world of today.

But nationhood, for all that, is by no means something to be stream-lined out of existence. Nor is it totally a construct : there are shared histories and values and community binding-factors which have many valid and positive aspects.

However, above and beyond individual nationhood there does really exist a shared common reality : the values, political diversity, democracy, human rights, which are jointly believed in by Europeans (and which for protection require a common political community). On the international front, a common European stance is discernible when contrasted, for instance, with the U.S. stance of using force to defend and promote a liberal attitude. On the domestic front, Europeans share similar views on a wide range of issues, from the death penalty to the extent and limitation of human freedom. A European convergence now exists, in virtue of which we have a capacity to work together and to constructively influence a world full of both opportunities and threats.

Fears have been raised about further EU expansion. But in the future new accessions are likely to only take place after specific referendums at least in some existing Member States. With regard to Turkey, it will take many years for negotiations to conclude, either way.

It is possible to see the current opposition to Turkey’s accession as reflecting either, on the one hand, fears concerning migration or the state of the Turkish economy, or, on the other hand, fears focused directly on religion. It might be better to situate the anxiety regarding religion in the wider context of anxiety regarding democracy and human rights in general. But the mere fact that this discussion is taking place, shows that the project of European unity goes deeper than the creation of a functioning market supported by some elements of cross-border solidarity.

Peter Sutherland