What does it mean to be ‘European’?

Since the late 1980s the project of European integration based upon the European Union and its antecedents has ceased to be confined to Western Europe and Greece. Most European states are either members or would-be members of the European Union, or else closely associated with it. The rules, laws, institutions, procedures and policies of the European Union increasingly provide the norms, frameworks and templates on which not only the current members but also most of their neighbours base their political, social, economic and environmental activities, rhetoric and endeavours. Pan-European integration is thus passing from pious dream to mundane reality. This raises crucial questions. Does pan-European integration require the construction of an overarching pan-European identity? Can the European Union overcome Europe’s continuing East-West cultural divide and help liberate Central and East Europeans from the hazards of ethnic and religious collectivism? And how far south and east should this integrated Europe extend?