History, Memory and the Construction of a European Identity

This paper gives a concise overview of the notion of European identity. It maps some of the existing scholarly discussions and debates on the concept and furthermore offers a short outline of the activities of the EU in this realm. Starting with highlighting some of the main issues encountered when researching European identity, it offers a possible solution by breaking the term further down into its different components. It proceeds by analyzing the EU institutional perspective in order to trace the development of EU policies aimed at creating a European sense of belonging.