Nacionalismo europeo
El europatriotismo es el patriotismo de Europa, y viene del portmanteau de esas dos palabras.
El europatriotismo no es una palabra bien definida, and whilst some understand it to mean patriotism for and about Europe, its common ideals, heritage and similar notions (themselves open to debate), many see Europatriotism defined as patriotism for and about the European Union. Such EU patriotism is generally not patriotism for the EU institutions and organisation, but patriotism for a vision of the peoples of the EU identifying themselves first with the EU as a nation-state-to-be (or similar supranational body) as opposed to peoples first or sole patiotism being towards the EU member state of which they are a citizen. Many also hold a vision for the EU to in the future encompass all of Europe, so therefore patriotism for a vision or forging of a nation-state-like EU might also be said to be patriotism for all of Europe, encompassed in an enlarged EU, in some peoples vision. There are many strains of Europatriotism.
Similar, but less strong sorts of patriotism exists in Africa and South America (see the African Union and Mercosur). There is debate as to whether this term should be defined in respect of the continent of Europe, the international organisation of the EU, or in respect of the concept of "European unity".
Because patriotism is seen as a requirement for a healthy democracy, the European Union is slowly adopting a policy to encourage and incite Europatriotism. The most used method to incite Europatriotism is to encourage pan-European projects such as Airbus and Galileo. See the list of European projects. To other countries it's like supporting both your local area and country at the same time, i.e. Texan and American, Ontarian and Canadian, Queenslander and Australian, Scots and British; and Macanese and Chinese. Europatriotism is in its very early stages, but the notion of emerging Europatriotism in Europe is clear[1].
The basic concept of 'Europatriotism' lies in two post-World War II speeches by Winston Churchill:
- "Why should there not be a European Group which could give a sense of enlarged patriotism?"
- —Winston Churchill in Zürich, 19 September 1946
- "We hope to see a Europe where men of every country will think as much of being a European as of belonging to their native land, and that without losing any of their love and loyalty of their birthplace. We hope wherever they go in this wide domain, to which we set no limits in the European Continent, they will truly feel 'Here I am at home. I am a citizen of this country too.'"
- —Winston Churchill in Amsterdam, Dam Square, 9 May 1948
To put Churchills quotes into context, it should be noted, however, that Churchill was using "European" in a common UK sense - meaning continental Europe - and that he was describing mechanisms that might avoid future wars. [1]. Indeed he never suggested a greater European identity covering the continent - the Soviet Union and their European empire, and the British Commonwealth were not a part of Churchills European vision.
Redefining 'Europe'
The definition of what 'Europe' represents has always been a debate, especially among Europeans themselves. However not only the European Union has become world's largest economy[2], there are more and more areas where Europeans are starting to agree on operating in a pan-European way, and with the rise of China and the dislike of the Bush administration Europeans seem to be stabilizing their joint efforts. Yet still the clearest interpretations of 'Europe' (and thus 'Europatriotism') come from non-Europeans.
Middle Eastern views
A clear example from the Middle East of this can be found in the raid of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades on the European Union Gaza offices where they demanded apologies from Denmark and Norway. [3]. Even though the Europeans originally regarded the issue as an issue for just Denmark and Norway, the protesting Palestinians redefined the issue as a European issue. Ironically, some Israelis hope one day to be a part of the European Union because approximately half of its population is originally of European descent.
American views
The way the United States looks at Europe is changing too, given the last update of the CIA World Factbook. Its 2005 edition says the following about the European Union:
There have been some significant changes to the latest edition of the World Factbook. The European Union is now included as an "Other" entity at the end of the listing. The European Union continues to accrue more nation-like characteristics for itself and so a separate listing was deemed appropriate. A fuller explanation may be found under the European Union Preliminary statement. [4]
Pan-European culture and identity
Europatriotism is closely related to a stronger sense of a European identity being developed through a more intermixed contemporary pan-European culture. A few examples of contemporary pan-European culture.
- Eurodance and electronice dance music. House, trance, techno and such, plus europop. This is a European theme with very limited uptake - only a small minority of younger people.
- Eurofood: In recent years the ethnic Turkish in Europe, have successfully hooked up every single European country with a new national (and thus pan-European) favourite snack dish, the kebab. Where the Mexicans provided the United States with burritos, the "Euro-Turks" has provided the Europeans with the döner kebab, created by Turks in Berlin's suburb Kreuzberg. It is worth noting however, that there has recently been a spreading around the world of different cuisines - for example, the recent rise in prominence of Thai cuisine in many nations - therefore the fact that Turkish food is more available in Europe of late could be said to have more to do with certain European countries political histories - Germany has traditionally had Turkey as a main provider of immigrant labour. Similarly, north African food is common in many French cities, and Indian food is said to provide the UKs favourite dishes. The availability of kebabs in the UK has more to do with immigration from Cyprus (which was a UK crown colony) than a sense of European identity. Therefore there is limited evidence of food providing any sense of European identity - particularly as the popularity of US-style fast-food chains doesn't seem like abating.
EU Publications
- The Raspberry Ice Cream War, a publication for schools professing EU-style European patriotism. The EU office in London declined to distribute this in the UK, due to an expected unsympathetic reception for such views. Also see: [2] [3]
The European continent does not have any universally recognized pan-European symbols, yet the European Union and the Council of Europe provides Europe as such with the basic symbols that most nation-states bear. Such symbols are:
- A flag, the European flag - a symbol for most of Europe, being sponsored by the Council of Europe (and subsequently adopted by the EU),
- An anthem, Ode to Joy - as for the flag, this is a symbol for all Council of Europe members and also all EU member states,
- A "national day", Europe day (9th May) - as for the flag and the anthem,
- A ccTLD domain, .eu - this is a symbol only for EU member states,
- A single currency, the euro - the euro, if indeed it is a symbol of unity for all who use it as opposed to being adopted by practical or economic considerations, has been adopted by some countries outside of the EU, but not by all EU member states in the bloc, albeit those who have not adopted it are in the minority.
Another major source of unity expressed through patriotism is the existence of a national military. This is especially true for the United States, but the first glimpses of a pan-European army are clear in the form of EUFOR, which recently celebrated its first anniversary. Although for there to be a "national military" there would have to be a "nation" of Europe for a military to be national of - there does not seem to be any prospect of forging a nation state encompassing the whole of Europe, although some would like to see the EU evolve into a nation, which would provide a large nation within Europe although still not encompassing all of Europe by any means.
European projects
A major source of Europatriotism can be found in pan-European projects - although several of these projects are only limited to western European nations that are in the EU. There are fewer pan-European projects involving EFTA nations or the nations of Europe in the CIS and the balkans. Because it is believed that a 'healthy democracy' cannot exist without a certain amount of emotional connection, EU policy exists to encourage and incite Europatriotism. Therefore some projects are setup to incite Europatriotism. But others are born out of pragmatic reasons. There is little known how effective projects specifically setup to incite Europatriotism are compared to 'natural' born projects. The first big test case might be the creation of a European Olympic Team. [5].
An overview of existing European projects.
European Defence
The European Union Force was founded in 2003. The goal is to have a permanent 60,000 person rapid reaction force by 2008. This project is not being taken part in by those nations of Europe with declared neutrality or those European CIS nations. There is some debate as to whether the declared objective is realistic as well as the extent to which any future European force should exist outside of the NATO structure.
Eurofighter
The Eurofighter is currently one of the most high-tech military jets available. In a spontaneous dogfight above Scotland between a Eurofighter and two F-15s, the F-15s tried to lock onto the Eurofighter. To the surprise of both the Eurofighter and the F-15s' pilots, the Eurofighter managed to evade and get behind the F-15s in shooting position, which in the RAF is generally regarded as a position for a sure hit. [6]. This is a project only involving 4 European nations as co-sponsors, although other European nations are likely to purchase aircraft. France, Sweden and Russia all manufacture competitor aircraft.
Europol
Europol is a contraction of European Police Office. Europol is the European Union's criminal intelligence agency. Europol became fully operational on 1 July 1999. Europol has already been featured in works of fiction. In the 2004 film Ocean's Twelve, Catherine Zeta-Jones played Isabel Lahiri, a Europol agent on the trail of Danny Ocean and company.
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency's headquarters are in Paris, France. ESA's spaceport is the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, a site chosen because it is close to the equator from which commercially important orbits are easier to access. During the era of Ariane 4 ESA gained the position of market leader in commercial space launches and in recent years ESA has established itself as the major competitor of NASA in space exploration. The ESA is not an EU agency and not all EU member states are subscribers to the ESA. The partly European nation of Russia has its own space programme.
European GPS: Galileo
After many years of discussion, the Europeans finally decided to launch the Galileo GPS network. This is perceived as an effort by the Europeans to reduce dependence on American military technology and as a political statement. Both the ESA and NASA agree that Galileo's technology is superior to the American GPS system, providing much higher accuracyPlantilla:Citationneeded.
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a Europe vs. United States golf tournament. Five out of the seven tournaments were won by the European team. The Ryder Cup is a clear example where the European flag is being used to represent Europe.
.EU domain name
The .eu domain name extension was introduced in 2005 as a new symbol of European Union identity on the world wide web. The .eu domain's introduction campaign specifically uses the tagline "Your European Identity" . Eventhough this is technically inaccurate - as it does not include non-EU European nations - it's one of the indicators that the European representation in the world is de facto the European Union.
Airbus
Airbus is the world's top commercial aircraft manufacturer measured in terms of deliveries and number of sales. Airbus delivered more planes and won more orders than its closest rival Boeing (USA). Boeing in 2005 took 1002 orders, while Airbus took 1055. There is speculation as of 2006 that BAE Systems will sell its 20% stake in Airbus to finance further expansion in the US defence market. Of interest is that many in France are proud of Airbus' success and primarily identify it as a French company, not a European company. The success of Airbus has proved that Europeans can team up and compete successfully with the United States, although there are still outstanding issues with the WTO over allegations of hidden and/or illegal subsidised financing of aircraft projects both for Airbus and Boeing.
Europatriotism vs Eurocentrism
The kind of patriotism expressed by Europatriotism is unique due to the post-nation-state organizational character of the European Union. However, it's not to be confused with Eurocentrism.
Books
- 2004, The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, Jeremy Rifkin, ISBN 1585423459
- 2004, The United States Of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy,T.R. Reid, ISBN 1594200335
See also
- United States of Europe
- Pro-European
- Europeanist
- Europhile
- European defence procurement
- Potential Superpowers - European Union
- Europe United
References
- ↑ «Building a common 'European fatherland'». Consultado el 7 de marzo de 2006.
- ↑ «European Union is the world's largest economy»
|url=incorrecta con autorreferencia (ayuda). Consultado el 7 de marzo de 2006. - ↑ «Fatah assaults European Union office». Wikinews. 2006-01-30.
- ↑ «CIA World Factbook - What's new». Consultado el 3 de marzo de 2006.
- ↑ «European Olympic Team». Consultado el 7 de febrero de 2006.
- ↑ «Eurofighter a shooting star in clash with US jets». Consultado el 19 de junio de 2005.