Perspectives of National Elites on European Citizenship: A South European View by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, Civics & Citizenship, Civil Rights
ISBN: 9780415686204
Google: D5iiuAAACAAJ
Goodreads: 13715808
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2011-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

European citizenship has been defined as a ‘compound citizenship’ (Cotta 2008), comprising an indirect citizenship, as a consequence of the already existing national citizenship, and a direct citizenship, which is the consequence of European institutions and policies. And, as in the analysis of national citizenship, we can find two distinct linkages between citizens and the polity: a horizontal dimension, that relates to membership in the European polity, and a vertical dimension, that connects the citizens with the political institutions (Cotta & Isernia 2009).

There are some elements that characterise the horizontal dimension of European citizenship within the Portuguese political elite. As has been argued (Cotta 2008), it is expected that an indirect model of citizenship will result in a weaker level of attachment to the EU than to the national polity. The Portuguese respondents confirm this expectation—45 per cent of the MPs are ‘very attached’ to the EU, while 92 per cent are strongly attached to their country (see Table 1). This may imply an instrumental allegiance to Europe, since the Portuguese elites overwhelmingly believe that the country has benefited from European integration.

The elements of national and European identity, as they are perceived by the Portuguese elites, show, however, considerable divergence from the generic European perception. As argued by Sanders (2008), there exists a mix of ascribed and achieved components in both the European and national identities. In the Portuguese case, beyond the above-mentioned components, European identity is seen as possessing an additional cultural/religious component: those who consider European culture an element of European identity do so because of the religious connotation they attribute to that very European culture.

Despite the secularisation of Europe being an ‘undeniable social fact’, the decline of regular participation in traditional religious ceremonies seems to be counterbalanced by a relatively high level of private religious beliefs (Casanova 2006, p. 65). This leads some authors to claim that in Europe, at the individual level, secular and Christian cultural identities are not easily separated, or even acknowledged as contradictory concepts (Hervieu-Léger 2000; Casanova 2006). In Portugal, at the elite level, the conception of Christianity is a driving element of European culture. This combines with the secular element of Portuguese national identity, giving further evidence to the paradox that ‘secular Europe’s boundaries are becoming more sharply defined in religious terms’ (Beckford 1994, p. 167, as quoted in Byrnes 2006, p. 284).

As for the vertical dimension of European citizenship (the relationship between the members of the polity and its political authorities), it has been argued that there are elements of a direct linkage (via the EP) and of an indirect linkage (via the European Council of Ministers), while the Commission is at the crossroads (Cotta 2008). Like their European counterparts, the majority of Portuguese respondents defend the strengthening of the powers of Parliament as well as the role of member states as central actors in the process of Europeanisation. In most EU countries, support for the Commission is, however, much weaker among MPs than among businesspeople. This has been interpreted as

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