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Reflections on Europeanism

Reflections on Europeanism Z S E 3 / 2004 by Václav Havel Nowadays, we often hear a question concerning whether or not, in addition to an awareness or a feeling of "national affiliation", there is a similar awareness or feeling also present in the souls of Europeans as regards their "affiliation to Europe"; that is, whether Europeans truly regard themselves as Europeans or whether this is rather a fiction, or a theoretical construction which attempts to raise a geographical circumstance to the level of a "state of mind". This question is posed, among other things, in connection with the debates on the measure of sovereignty that nation states can, or should, transfer to the collective organs of the Union. Many have pointed out that if the affiliation to a nation ­ an established and clearly perceived phenomenon ­ was to be pushed into the background too fast in favour of a rather unfamiliar, if not chimerical, concept of a European affiliation, it might not end well. So where do we stand about our being European? When I ask myself: "To what extent do I feel European, and what links me with Europe?", my first thought is a mild astonishment at the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Zeitschrift für Staats- und Europawissenschaften de Gruyter

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
ISSN
1610-7780
eISSN
1612-7013
DOI
10.1515/zfse.2004.001
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Z S E 3 / 2004 by Václav Havel Nowadays, we often hear a question concerning whether or not, in addition to an awareness or a feeling of "national affiliation", there is a similar awareness or feeling also present in the souls of Europeans as regards their "affiliation to Europe"; that is, whether Europeans truly regard themselves as Europeans or whether this is rather a fiction, or a theoretical construction which attempts to raise a geographical circumstance to the level of a "state of mind". This question is posed, among other things, in connection with the debates on the measure of sovereignty that nation states can, or should, transfer to the collective organs of the Union. Many have pointed out that if the affiliation to a nation ­ an established and clearly perceived phenomenon ­ was to be pushed into the background too fast in favour of a rather unfamiliar, if not chimerical, concept of a European affiliation, it might not end well. So where do we stand about our being European? When I ask myself: "To what extent do I feel European, and what links me with Europe?", my first thought is a mild astonishment at the

Journal

Zeitschrift für Staats- und Europawissenschaftende Gruyter

Published: Sep 6, 2004

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