How is a European identity significant to the future of the European Union?

The arguments and policy visions presented in this article have been collaboratively generated by the participants of the Identity Workshop at Yale University’s European Student Conference: “The Future of the European Union” held in February 2015.

The purpose of this workshop was to engage in a discussion on the concept of a shared European Identity: What is a European Identity? How, if at all, is it significant to the future of the European Union, and what can be done to promote its development? My objective in what follows is to introduce and summarize the participants’ policy visions regarding the construction of a European Identity and invite further inquiry into the content and meaning of this often overlooked yet vital dimension of the European integration.

The workshop reached a general consensus that a European Identity is critical to the legitimacy and effectiveness of EU political institutions and proposed several policy measures oriented towards strengthening said identity. The policies proposed by the participants range from raising awareness of the significance of a European Identity to closing the gap between EU and its citizens, facilitating economic solidarity amongst EU states and increasing the role of EU in judicial policy, minority rights and border policing.