Debates on European Identity (2013-14)

What are the roots of European identity? What does European identity mean today and how is it related to European integration? How can the Council of Europe help foster positive European identities?

The Debates on European Identity were an initiative of Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in response to the difficult and challenging times facing European societies today. Building on the format of the previous Democracy debates, and enlarging the thematic scope, they contributed to discussing the current state of thinking and dynamics behind the concept of European Identity. They were intended to serve as a catalyst of ideas and concepts for the future of Europe, thereby contributing to building constructive European identities.

Co-organised by the Council of Europe and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA), the debates on European identity featured eminent personalities from politics, civil society and academic world. Each time, speakers addressed a different way the complexity of issues related to European identity.

All European Identity Debates

Back Daniel COHN-BENDIT, Publicist and politician, the Greens, MEP, on 'Quo Vadis Europa?'

Sixth debate

'The European democratic identity is fundamentally political. It is intrinsically bound up with the EU political project'

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Publicist and Politician, the Greens, MEP - Council of Europe Debate on European Identity, November 2013

What are the limits of European integration and what responsibilities would national states have in a transnational Europe?
Could European identity one day substitute national patriotism?

In his introduction speech, 'Quo Vadis Europa?' Daniel Cohn-Bendit exposed his vision of European identity versus national patriotism.

In a recent article, he had declared: 'the time is ripe for a transnational, trans-generational, trans-partisan, grass-roots and crowd-funded movement to take European integration to the next level'.

He suggested that Europe had a role to play as one of the global leaders, but to achieve this, Europe needs a paradigm shift based on the abandonment of national sovereignty and a move away from state-nation structures.

Biography of Daniel Cohn-Bendit