European Identity
...Laps? None! The main obstacle for the creation of European identity is language. The European Union as one nation is confronted with the dilemma that there is no European unity language. There are too many national and regional languages. There are eleven official languages in the European Union. These languages are equal in value to each other; this is anchored in the constitution of the European Union. The diversity of languages in Europe and the European Union is a barrier to the development of a common European identity. National identity is very much associated with a common language. Spoken or written language is the most important human communication source. The mother language and the cultural heritage are essential for one’s consciousness; they form a basis for the world view a person has, the values, the symbols, the memories, the desire and the intuitions. For this reason the threats towards national languages are very sensitive. Some say that the bond between a human being and his language is enduring and that a language is a result of the construction of a nation. Although English is the most common second language of the EU, there has been a strong resistance from France and Germany, to the elevation of English having the status of the official common language of the EU. One reason for this has been the late entry of the UK into the integration process. Had Britain been a founding member of the EU, English might have been accepted as the common language. As language is the main item that connects people to a certain region, culture and nation it will be very difficult to create a European identity. But, if one would decide to have one common language in Europe, what language would that be? There are some neutral languages which could become a European language. The old examples are Latin or Old Greek, but there is also a new modern language Esperanto, an artificial and grammatically easy language. The identification of a European citizen occurs on three levels: regional, national and European. Then there are three sorts of languages: the dialect, the national language and the European language. Everyone can choose to move to another territory and to learn a local language. Everybody can learn another language, but nobody can be forced to let its own language for what it is and be obligated to learn another one. The results of a research held in 1990 showed that only 4 per cent of the Dutch citizens saw themselves as ‘very attached’ to Europe. In Italy and Spain the same research showed that 18 per cent of the citizens felt European. These percentages are very small. 86 Per cent of the Greek, 84 per cent of the Danish, 71 per cent Irish and 70 per cent of the Portuguese citizens felt ‘very attached’ to their own country. The concept of the European identity is forced on to people. Perhaps for this is the reason so many people are against it. European Commission is saying that everyone should feel European. As a result, the resistance to the European identity only increases. Many people are unsatisfied with the small say they have about developments of Europe. For this reason a great majority of the Dutch citizens are in favour of a referendum about the future of Europe. Nowhere in Europe were there people demonstrating, giving supports for a further integration of the European countries. The only demonstrations that took place were the ones where people were demonstrating against the European Union. European identity only exists when Europeans travel outside of Europe, for example to America. This happens, because the American knowledge about Europe is so small that Europe is considered as one big country. They don’t see much difference between the French culture and the Dutch one. Identity depends on where we are. For example, somebody from Northern-Germany is Bavaria a Northern-German in Bavaria, a German in Italy, a E...