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Common cultural and social practices seems a strong medium to do just that - develop, foster and strengthen this notion : spreading common symbols, introducing common holidays, teaching a common understanding of European history and of the roots of the European integration process, which is based on the idea of shared sovereignty.
The introduction of the concept of European citizen in 1992, endowed with certain entitlements and strengthened by succeeding reform Treaties, is another important factor in developing a sense of identity, but 18 years is much too short a time to have any effect in a sociological process which has to evolve bottom-up.
With to 27 Member States in the European Union and nearly half a billion European citizens, the wealth of European culture and cultural history is a great asset for the EU and, beyond this, all of Europe. Bringing the various strands and local expression together into a common cultural space is an important element for building a common cultural identity.
After the fall of the fascist regimes in Mediterranean Europe, in Latin America and in Asia and after the fall of the communist regimes in the big region that for fifty years was under the control of the Soviet Union, now the time has come for the Arab people’s awakening. The “third wave” of democratization, as Huntington called it, started in 1974 with the Portuguese revolution, has not exhausted yet.
The EU and US governments have been caught by surprise by the masses’ spontaneous movement that invaded the cities’ squares of North Africa and the Middle East. In the name of the international stability they backed until the end the old, falling, oppressive and corrupted regimes in Tunisia and in Egypt and they accepted their fall with disappointment. The governments of the EU and unfortunately also the European Parliament did not find the words nor did they formulate any political proposal in order to intervene on the great on-going movement of liberation. After the decline of the US influence and with the absence of Europe, the international system does not seem to have the economic and power resources, nor the political view to positively affect the current events and to help and direct the transition to democracy.