Cultural Identity In The Process Of European Integration

Regional integration and its success or failure is an important variable of the current international situation. The study of regional integration is an important area of international relations. At present, the highest form of regional integration in the world -- the European integration has gone far beyond the original expectations. The European Union is the first and the only successful supra-national bodies and institutions in the world until now. By the impact of realism,early research of international relations theory is applicant of rational theory, which focuses on political, economic, legal and so on. After the 1990's, along with the return of cultural studies in international relations, more and more scholars begin to pay attention to the role of culture in the process of European integration. The reason why European integration has been such a success, is closely related with the European history and cultural traditions. Common cultural roots, common religion and common values provide a broad humanistic background for the European integration, which has a profound impact on the process of integration. Cultural homogeneity in many European countries makes it easier for the people to form the same or similar ideas, customs, social norms, and collective identity of the European, and then also more easily take concerted unified action.Many scholars analyzed and explained the cultural studies in the process of European integration in different ways, in which the most representative is the American scholars Alexandria Wendt's Constructivism Theory. The paper detailed the impact and role of cultural factors and cultural identity in the process of European integration, including its foundation of the existence - national identity, its power of the development - state sovereignty transfer, and the path of implementation - the EU's system construction and the collective identity of European people by use of constructivism theory. In addition, it discoursed how the European Union formulates the corresponding of cultural policies by using the construction characteristics of cultural identity, further strengthens the European identity of European public and a sense of belonging to the community composed by different nations, and pushs forward the implement of EU-related policies.