The European Environmental Conscience in Eu Politics: A Developing Ideology by Thomas Hoerber & Gabriel Weber

Author:Thomas Hoerber & Gabriel Weber [Hoerber, Thomas & Weber, Gabriel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367901363
Google: hFWKzgEACAAJ
Goodreads: 58542281
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-12-31T00:00:00+00:00

Interview List:

Interviewee 1, stakeholder, 17 October 2018.

Interviewee 2, stakeholder, 16 October 2018.

Interviewee 3, stakeholder, 16 October 2018.

Interviewee 4, stakeholder, 7 November 2017.

Interviewee 5, EU administrator, 17 October 2018.

Interviewee 6, EU administrator, 7 November 2017.

Interviewee 7, EU administrator, 14 November 2018.

5The integrating power of the environmentally conscious energyRethinking global positioning of the EU

Tomasz Braun

DOI: 10.4324/9781003022855-7

Defining Europe might not be an easy task, particularly when it is to be done by identifying what unites Europeans. Still, the shared societal, cultural and political characteristics that describe Europe have created more than just a geographic unity. Europe as a concept has been built upon a common and unique history. Its multiple specificities might be defined by a density of people, exchange of their thoughts, trade and its strife for wealth as well as common values (Schmid, 2016: 163). These are the elements that might be considered as constituting Europe. Europe, however, has never been a stable entity, nor is it currently. The same refers to key values that become important for Europeans. Sustainability is definitely among those which shape current European conscience (Cohen, 2018: online). In this chapter these values and their constitutive role for European identity are discussed.

The challenge of facing major changes influenced by such drivers as globalisation, digitisation, demographic change, global migrations and environmental protection creates a need to rethink European positions constantly. How European societies will cope with the upcoming changes will determine whether Europe can continue to live in peace, be free, prosperous and stable in the future. Populist parties and movements that distinguish themselves with anti-European positions are gaining popularity throughout Europe (Kitschelt, 2007: 182). Finally, the imminent withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) reveals the reversibility of the European integration process. Geopolitically, all these factors add up to the variety of setbacks which question the EU’s present position in the areas of security and alliance policy as well as economic, trade and industrial policies. These various developments have raised fundamental questions of cohesion and solidarity, of democracy and political legitimacy, and of systemic, social, cultural and economic integration processes within the EU (Franck, 1988: 710; Miles, 2015).

Depending on whether cohesion is discussed in the context of direct transfers of thoughts, services and trade exchange between the Member States, the communitarisation of risks, security guarantees, energy safety, environment, a common foreign policy or media, language and culture, different aspects are at the forefront (Kerschner, Wagner, 2016: 67). Sustainable development of European economies achieved through ecological modernisation, in parallel to other competing concepts like circular economy or degrowth, responds to current challenges of the Continent. It has a power to integrate as it refers to social, environmental and economic aspects of this process (Hoerber, Introduction to this book). Any research investigating these different facets of cohesion in Europe would not be complete without a thorough discussion on its fundamental values that currently are the most relevant and unifying for Europeans (Kerschner, Wagner, 2016: 59).

Integrating trends might refer to such factors as culture, identity and the position vis-à-vis the rest of the world (Hauser, 2007: 35).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.