ABSTRACT
All the preconditions for a lively European communicative arena exist, but there are obstacles and barriers to its development and smooth functioning. In order to restructure the European Union to make it an effective institution capable of performing its role of uniting and governing 27 or more countries as a regional superstructure, several conditions have to be met. Political and institutional restructuring is vital, but cognitive aspects, attitudes and feelings have to be taken into account as well. Communication among decision-making bodies, representatives and general publics has to be reinforced because the millions of EU citizens need to forge some kind of common identity. This is an indispensable precondition to the elaboration of the social solidarity without which the Union will never be able to develop into a strong polity. The collaboration of citizens and their free associations as well as political forces and institutions requires mutual advantages, a common future, mutual responsibility and solidarity. For a vast social programme to be successfully implemented, objective and subjective conditions have to be ensured. This chapter concentrates on the relationship between nation states, identities, citizenship and the public sphere, with a particular emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
