Analysis The European Cultural Identity In The Process Of European Integration

So far, European Union is the highest regional community in the world, and it's the organizational regional community that implements intergovernmental cooperation and super-national cooperation. The depth and extent of the process of European integration is far beyond the other regional integration organization, it contains the economical integration, political integration and cultural integration. European integration begins with economical area, overflows to the political, defense, social and legal areas, but it will be ended in the cultural area. On a long view, the integration and identity of culture is more important for the integration of Europe, the culture even will decide the direction and future of the development of integration. As a super-national regional community, the cohesion of EU not only needs the source, regime and power as the safeguard, but also needs the integration of spirit. Because the process of integration is a process of constructing the collective cultural identity, and cultural identity is the most stable identity, so, intensifying the common European idea, European value, constructing the real European cultural identity is the ultimate goal of the development of European integration. European cultural identity is one of the motivations of development of European integration. The forming and construction of European cultural identity is not smooth, and it needs the wise of Europeans. EU also uses the inner and outer policies to construct the European cultural identity. The thesis uses historical materialism and dialectical materialism methods and in the view of constructism.The main content of the thesis contains three sections. The first section, it introduces the meaning, forming and development of European cultural integration. This section begins with the analyzing of the meaning of, and then it indicates that there is a necessity relation between culture and identity. In the process of the forming and development of nation, culture is the most core and stable factor. European culture identity relations with European historical cultural heritage, and it's a kind of common sign and relation among past, present and future, and also called cultural citizen right. European culture identity contains the common European culture and heritage of history and some common value depending on it, and it depended on the European culture. Then, it introduces the thought and cultural source of European integration. Ancient Greece and Roma civilization, Christian culture and Renaissance humanism are all the resource of European integration. After the long disruption and war of Europe, some persons suggests that we want unite and developmental Europe, the European unite theory gradually formed. Following with it, European cultural identity also develops.The second section, it analyzes the relationship of European integration and European cultural identity. For one thing, European cultural identity enhances the process of European integration. First, the forming of European cultural identity has the favor of making up the deficiency of functionalism of European integration, making the member countries intense the cooperation. Second, the forming of European cultural identity has the favor of cultivating the citizen's sense of belonging of EU, lessening the validity deficiency of EU. At last, in the outer aspect, the forming of European cultural identity has the favor of making the EU as an independent actor in the international stage, improving the status and force in the international affairs. For another, the diversity of culture, the contradictory between the national cultural identity and European cultural identity restricts and hinders the process of European integration. Firstly, national cultural identity disputes the European cultural identity. Second, European integration makes the arousing of national sense, so the intensifying of national cultural identity, esp. the national cultural policies, also hinders the European cultural identity. At last, European immigrants and the enlargement of eastern European also makes it more confused.The thesis indicates that the European cultural identity and national cultural identity is the two sides of the coin. European cultural identity is the sublimation of national cultural identity; national cultural identity is the base of European cultural identity. They contain with each other and can't be break up. EU must undertake the task of coordinating the friction of national culture and constructing the European culture. EU not only intensifies the common history of Europe, taking it as the taches to construct the European cultural identity, and lessens the national senses by European idea, but also remains the characters of every national culture to make them peaceful alive.The third section, it indicates that EU should depending on the oneness of European culture, by the cultural exchange and cooperation, constructing the over-national European cultural identity, to makes the European to an intense community. The concrete policies mainly contains: first, EU should faction the European common cultural image to excite the common passion of Europeans. Setting kinds of image signs and festivals are all the common spirit knot of Europeans. Second, EU should intense the education of Europe, by the political socialization to cultivate citizen's identity of European culture. It uses the knowledge factory, educational plans and language plans to cultivate the youth's European cultural identity. Third, EU should intense the construct the European citizenship, making the sense of European from conscious to spontaneous. It mainly uses the laws and treaties to make it come true. At last, EU should draw up and carry out the European Constitution to intensifying the citizen's identity of European culture.The policies that EU implements breaking out the national culture have some effects. But in the long view, it is not enough only by EU officers and the elites of each countries, it needs the experiences of past and the common interests of the future of EU and each nation, but also needs the creation of the masses of European's wise and effort.