Pour les pays des dernières vagues d’intégrations, 7 et 10 ans après, les situations restent bien différentes. Les attentes des Européens étaient grandes et des désenchantements aujourd’hui s’expriment. Une crise idéologique profonde semble secouer certains pays, en particulier lorsque les institutions nationales sont moins reconnues ou légitimées, comme en Bulgarie. Le colloque proposé par un consortium européen d’une dizaine d’universités et instituts sera décliné en plusieurs thématiques et dans plusieurs villes : 16 avril 2014, Sofia (Bulgarie), L’Europe face à ses nouveaux citoyens : des mobilisations aux élections ; 23 avril 2014, Banska Bystrica (Slovaquie), Coopérations, Intégrations et Voisinages ; 15 mai 2014, Cluj-Napoca (Roumanie), Le rôle des médias dans le développement d’une identité européenne ; 8 juillet 2014, Szeged (Hongrie), Entre intérêts et valeurs : bilan et défis de l’intégration en Europe centrale 

Presentation

For the countries that joined the EU with the recent waves of integration, the situation is still very different 7 and 10 years later. The first obvious dichotomy between North and South is juxtaposed with a lot of differences between East and West (which the Structural Funds were meant to reduce). Europeans’ initial expectations were high and nowadays disenchantment is being expressed. In addition, these developments have highlighted the reality and the intensity of internal disparities within each Member State, which concern all citizens and constitute a basis for the implementation of wider solidarity and of some trends in identity and/or nationalist politics, especially with the consequences of the crisis since 2008. A deep ideological crisis seems to be shaking some countries, especially when the national institutions are less recognized or considered legitimate, as in Bulgaria.

Thus, especially for the former satellite countries of the Soviet Union, the European integration is more or less integrated in a long process, as a “return back to Europe” for many, or after the creation of a new State for some. These integrations took effect after negotiations and normalisations, and often after some profound transformations of rules or of the structure of institutions. An institutional “Europeanization”, somehow, that was part of a change that many analysts have called an economic and democratic “transition”.

It is therefore possible to ask whether this integration of the “acquis communautaire” is legitimate for the citizens of these countries. Is this integration deep or not ? What are the effects of these institutional harmonisations or uniformisations, including the Bologna Process for higher education, of the application to the guidelines, or the implementation of Community programs and in particular the use of the Structural Funds for the objective of convergence ?

It is often noted that the new EU citizens have a rather positive image of the European Union, especially among the younger generations who regret at the same time the alleged bureaucratic excesses. But if a mistrust of national institutions increases at the same time, then the European choice is more by default than by conviction. In the countries in the North, the Schengen and the Euro zones are concrete evidence, installed in daily life, of this “Europeanness”, although it is often considered to be relatively rare. The symbolic EU remains weak and generally is relevant mostly to the nations...

The European Union has set up an additional citizenship, if not supplementary, with real rights but without duties integrated in the mentalities. The legitimation of institutions is not obvious and many people live their European membership as a set of constraints rather than as a voluntary process In the example of Bulgarian citizens, the question of the deadline for the country’s accession to the Schengen area helps to maintain a situation experienced by them as a juxtaposition between centre and periphery.

It is interesting to note that, under this “Europeanization” of the new Member States, one always evokes the “acquis communautaire” (the French term is used even in English, as well as in the local languages). And while its implementation was a process that took fifty years for the old states, it has to be carried out in ten or fifteen years for the new members !

7 and 10 years later, we are forced to acquiesce to the evidence of those differences, even the gulf between the “new” European states and the “old” ones. For the former, the European Union sometimes seems to be a sort of a “club” more or less reserved for old Western democracies. But while there was no doubt about the question of membership, the disappointment is clearly visible for the new European citizens.

It is not contradictory to link the important trust in the European institutions often exhibited by new EU citizens to the mistrust displayed towards their own country’s national institutions... and also this does not encourage them to vote massively at the European elections. In response to the crisis which Bulgaria has been going through since the winter of 2012-2013, some Bulgarian journalists advocate for their country to be under direct temporary guardianship of the European Commission. However, this idea is not necessarily proof of legitimacy but a pragmatic... and provocative reaction.

Obviously, the issue of integration and European citizenship goes beyond the political, diplomatic, institutional or even journalistic considerations ; the whole society, every citizen, each resident is concerned. It is also necessary to analyse the integration and the citizenship together with the changes of attitudes and of uses, taking into account the migrations and mobility, and the development of communities in social networks, the permanent connections to the Internet, the evolution of traditional media or the uses of television programmes... Migrants and European free movers are part of a “supermodern” context and perhaps the European citizenship that complements the national citizenship could also be a “super/post-citizenship” in a super/post-democracy?

The evolution of the diversity of nationalities in European countries should be articulated with that of citizenship and integration on the one hand, and the question of identities (local, regional, national, European[s], etc.), on the other. The identity processes and the social commitments also reveal the ability of citizens to build them as such.

European integration is a complex and long-lasting process. Failing to see the emergence of a European public space, some convergences exist that allow considering the connection of public spaces inside the Union and the implementation of an active citizenship. For this, it is necessary that the national citizens make the choice to discover these spaces within each country, and not that of ignorance and rejection.

Four calls for papers

1) 16th April 2014, Sofia

Europe facing its new citizens: from mobilizations to elections

Under the direction of Anna Krasteva et Ildiko Otova

A few weeks before the European elections, the session planned in Sofia aims to allow some exchanges about new mobilizations, protests and participations of citizens to build a space for European citizenship.

• What means, what projects, what realities?
• In particular, it is proposed to describe and to analyse the conventional and unconventional forms of civic and political participation.
• Do these new commitments lead to new forms of abstention?
• What relationships can be established between these exercises of citizenship, participation and mobility? For example, could the mobile Europeans build particular identities and adopt specific behaviours?
• In these contexts, what about digital democracy and e-citizenship? Is it a radical transformation or only a technological change? Could the use of digital media and of screens radically transform citizenships?
• European elections and new citizenships: how to integrate these in the European electoral process?
• Finally, the question of identity and of European citizenship: what layouts, realities and prospects ?

2) 23th April 2014, Banska Bystrica

Cooperations, Integrations and Neighborhood

Under the direction of Radovan Gura et Gilles Rouet

• The political and administrative development of the European Union is quite specific. A multilevel organization exists de facto with bilateralities (still) and old and new multilateralities therein. The development and the prospects of the European Union, in terms of cooperation, must take into account the realities of these multilateralities. The example of the Visegrád agreement is very interesting in this respect.
• One can also wonder what is now the role of the diplomatic mission of each Member State within the European Union. Does it help or thwart the European project, does it promote or not the collective projects?
• In particular, educational, cultural and economic diplomacies within the European Union are bilateralities that are not necessarily in the service of European integration or of the neighbourhood policy of the European Union. That is why some cross-cutting approaches of external policies for Europe in different Member States are suggested.
• The evolution of the EU seems to lead to convergences, harmonisations and/or uniformisations in various legislative and regulatory areas (nationality, economy, education, employment, etc.), but differences persist (working conditions, standard of living, housing conditions, healthcare systems, social policies, etc.) and upset the European integration, particularly social integration.
• Finally, it is interesting to study the process and the reality of European integration together with the evolution of the European Neighbourhood Policy (considering the multilateralities), and to take into account common values and the search for global security.

3) 15th May 2014, Cluj-Napoca

The Role of Media in Developing a European Identity

Under the direction of Ioana Hritcu et Sergiu Miscoiu

In the course of the last few decades, the question of European citizens’ identification with the European Union’s values, principles and actions has been particularly important for the EU’s decision makers. First, because it has been largely acknowledged that there is an important gap between citizens’ participation in local and national processes of election and decision making, on the one hand, and their interest and involvement in similar processes at the European level, on the other. But also because stimulating the feeling of European belonging could provide a ‘new life’ to the European project, especially under the circumstances of the 2008 crisis-driven new wave of Euroskepticism. This ambition is even more important in the post-2004 member states that have encountered numerous structural and cultural-transition problems while being unprepared to be confronted with the ‘old’ European dilemmas concerning national sovereignty, socio-economic development models and cultural and ethnic diversity management.

Massmedia has been identified as the indispensable tool for promoting European citizenship and Europeans’ identification with the Union. However, along with the pro-European outlets – e.g. the public TV and radio companies that are under the control of the national governments or specific European networks, such as Euronews – the anti-European or Euroskeptical media has also flourished (some British tabloids are the most specific example of this phenomenon). Moreover, online media, which today is a very influential source of information for most Europeans, increasingly depicts the EU as a part of the political establishment, and often criticizes and confronts it, more saliently after the outburst of the 2008 world financial crisis.

4) 8th July 2014, Szeged

Between interests and values: Results and challenges of the integration in Central Europe

Under the direction of Carine Guemar et Peter Kölnerr

• The proposed session in Szeged attempts to articulate interests and values in the context of European integration.
• The first theme relates to European solidarity towards the new Member States and the risk of installing a multi-speed Europe, with social disparities as obstacles for any real social integration.
• European building is also part of the emergence of a Europe of regions. But is it regionalism or regionalization? How is European identity expressed locally and what are the realities of the local participation of European citizens?
• It is also proposed to articulate Values and Constitutions and to analyze the national constitutional identities in relation to the common constitutional heritage. The position of texts and of national constitutional provisions may serve as a spare instrument or become a tool for integration.
• This articulation is also expressed with the question of the protection of fundamental rights in Europe. In particular, the protection of minorities remains a specific problem in Central Europe and we must consider the concepts, the procedures and the legal means of protection, and for what rights exactly.
• The last theme is East-West Mobility. European regulation on this matter seems faulty and a lack of political will can be noticed. This mobility has become both an issue for abusive behavior related to European legitimacy and a populist pitch in some national political discourses.

Languages for presentations

• Sofia : Bulgarian, English, French
• Banska Bystrica : English, French, Slovak
• Cluj : English, French, Român
• Szeged : French

Languages for papers

• English, French

Proposals for papers

Proposals for papers, (with title, summary of the proposal, personal introduction of the author) should be sent before March 10, 2014 to Gilles Rouet (gilles.rouet@gmail.com) and

• - For the first session in Sofia also to Anna Krasteva (anna.krasteva@gmail.com)
• - For the second session in Banska Bystrica also to Radovan Gura (radovan.gura@umb.sk)
• - For the third session in Cluj-Napoca also to Sergiu Miscoiu (miscoiu@yahoo.com)
• - For the fourth session in Szeged also to Peter Köllner, (peter.kollner@irsi.u-szeged.hu) and to Carine Guemar, carine.guemar@irsi.u-szeged.hu.

Thank you to specify the session of your choice.

The language of the written contribution and of the oral presentation will be French or English in Sofia, Banska Bystrica, Szeged and Cluj-Napoca, only English in Krakow.

Selected Contributors will be notified at least on March 30th, 2014 and the texts should be sent before June 15th, 2014, for publication.

Scientific and Organizing Committee

• Annie Bartoli, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
• Anne-Coralie Bonnaire, Université Paris Descartes et de Leipzig
• Ivaylo Ditchev, Université St Clément d’Ohrid, Sofia
• Serge Dufoulon, Université Pierre Mendès France, Grenoble
• Antoniy Galabov, Nouvelle Université Bulgare, Sofia
• Carine Guemar, Institut des études internationales et régionales, Université de Szeged, Université de Montpellier I et Institut Français de Hongrie
• Petia Gueorguieva, Nouvelle Université Bulgare, Sofia
• Maya Grekova, Université St Clément d’Ohrid, Sofia
• Radovan Gura, Université Matej Bel, Banska Bystrica
• Philippe Hermel, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
• Ioana Hritcu, Université de Cluj-Napoca
• Svetla Koleva, Académie des Sciences Bulgare, Sofia
• Peter Köllner, Institut des études internationales et régionales, Université de Szeged
• Anna Krasteva, Nouvelle Université Bulgare, Sofia
• Péter Kruzslicz, Institut des études internationales et régionales, Université de Szeged
• Christophe Lips, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
• Sergiu Miscoiu, Université de Cluj-Napoca
• Miroslaw Natanek, Institute of European Studies, Krakow
• Dariusz Niedźwiedzki, Institute of European Studies, Krakow
• Ildiko Otova, Nouvelle Université Bulgare, Sofia
• Grzegorz Pożarlik, Institute of European Studies, Krakow
• Gilles Rouet, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Université de Banska Bystrica, Institut Français de Bulgarie
• Maria Rostekova, Université Matej Bel, Banska Bystrica
• François Soulages, Université Paris 8, RETINA.International
• Natasza Styczyńska, Institute of European Studies, Krakow
• Peter Terem, Université Matej Bel, Banska Bystrica
• Antony Todorov, Nouvelle Université Bulgare, Sofia
• Gérard Wormser, Sens Public