Common institutions, diverging identities? Supranational institution building and collective identity formation in the European Union

Although the European Union has successfully gained political authority over almost half a billion citizens, the political identity of all those citizens is still primarily linked to the EU member state where they live, and many people identify exclusively with their national community. This poses a major challenge for policymakers, as collective identity lies at the heart of the problems currently facing the EU, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Brexit and euroscepticism, and conflicts over European solidarity during recent crises. In her inaugural lecture, Theresa Kuhn shows how European identity has developed in recent decades and what explains these developments. She argues that it matters not only whether citizens feel European, but also what kind of European identity develops, i.e. on what criteria it is based and what its boundaries are. A cosmopolitan understanding of European identity is necessary to respond jointly to international challenges such as wars, mass migration and climate change.