European and National Identities in the Context of Neofunctionalism and “Imagined Communities” Theories

Abstract

The article contains an analysis of the state of European and national identities of modern Europeans. The notion of identities is multi-dimensional and includes many elements. In the scientific discourse the process of the European identity formation is increasingly being considered as a part of the European integration process. Currently the elements of European identity are seen by Europeans as elements of their national, local and other identities. The examples of the Netherlands and Belgium considered in the article confirm this statement. Some researchers believe that the European identity is artificially constructed by political elites. These principles are defined in more details in the theories of neo-functionalism by Deutsch and Haas and the "Imagined Communities" by Anderson. The article considers both theories, as well as examples confirming these ideas. The main methods used in the study were the analysis of scientific literature and European legislation concerning the formation of European identity, and the analysis of statistical data from the Eurobarometer and the European Social Survey in 2016 and 2018. The results of the research confirm the fact that for most Europeans national identity is primary, however they also identify themselves as Europeans. In addition, residents of the EU countries sense a higher level of European identity than the residents of countries outside the EU. The lowest level of European identity is observed among citizens of Russia and Serbia. The results of the research contribute to an evaluation of the success of the political project for the European identity formation.