ABSTRACT
For an anthropologist Europe-building within the European Union (EU) presents at least two original features. First of all, the recent history of post-war European institutions shows an alternating of acceleration and regression. One cannot describe it as a linear process, nor as something which might be considered a priority by the majority of Europeans. Secondly, the process of building Europe is never complete. The vision that ‘one day Europe will be a united political entity’ was shared by the first generation of the EU’s pioneers, but the assertion that ‘later the “esprit européen” will triumph’ has given room to a more sceptical vision of the future (Abélès 1996). The most salient characteristic of EU officials’ discourses and practices is the link between the immediate present and an indeterminate future. In some circles it does not seem possible to be European without projecting oneself into a world which does not yet exist, and which cannot be adequately understood using the classical notions of political science. This chapter focuses on two points. The first part deals with the openness and the structural uncertainty of the European Union’s future. The second part examines the difficulty in constructing the common notions which orientate the quest for this future.
