ABSTRACT
This quotation is drawn from an information booklet on the European Union. However, it would be wrong to assume that it is an eloquent characterization of most peoples’ feelings towards the EU. There is a stronger case for arguing that if the European Project is to succeed, a development of such feelings is both desirable and necessary. One way the Community has tried to address the problem has been through the development of a notion of European Citizenship. The underlying idea is that by granting the peoples of Europe political and social rights in relation to the Union, the Community would be more visible and relevant in people’s everyday life, thereby countering the legitimacy de¿ cit which the Community apparently suffers. Ideally, it would indeed make people feel European, fostering the group-identity that could glue the Community together, because it would work the same way as the national identity in the nation state.
