Belgium wrestles with its identity(ies). A test lab for Europe?

• Authors: Dujardin Vincent
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In this paper the author reconsiders the approach taken by Belgian politicians, working to promote European integration, vis-à-vis the question of European identity, roots and values, as well as their attitude towards European political objectives. We compare these views with those of French authors or politicians. Finally, we examine the current issues surrounding Belgian identity, caught between the French-speaking community and the increasingly strong Flemish identity. By way of a conclusion, I shall try to show how Belgium, with its identity- related issues, is sometimes presented as a ‘test lab for Europe’, as it was in the past, in completely different contexts, in 1921 at the time of the BLEU (Belgo- Luxembourg Economic Union) and in 1944 with the founding of the Benelux union.

Keywords

EN

Belgium; identity; European integration

• Publisher: Księgarnia Akademicka
• Journal: Politeja : Pismo Wydziału Studiów Miedzynarodowych i Politycznych Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
• Year: 2015
• Issue: 6(37)
• Pages: 25-33

Contributors

author

Dujardin Vincent

• Catholic University of Louvain (UCL, Belgium)

References

• Annales parlementaires. Chambre, October 1962.
• Bréhier T., Le Monde littéraire, 30 April 1999. Critique of Les racines de l’identité européenne by G.‑F. Dumont, Paris 1999.
• Coulie B. in B. Coulie, V. Dujardin, Fondements de l’intégration européenne. Histoire, géographie, culture, structures, Louvain‑la‑Neuve 2012.
• Delperée F., ‘La guerre des Belges aura‑t‑elle lieu?’, La Revue Générale, No. 1 (2007).
• Dumont G.‑F., Les racines de l’identité européenne, Paris 1999.
• Javeau C., Masse et impuissance. Le désarroi des universités, Brussels 1998 (Quartier Libre).

Identifiers

DOI

10.12797/Politeja.12.2015.37.03