Referendum as a Tool for Building European Identity. The Case of Belgium, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands

Hitherto, forty-one national referendums have been conducted on European integration in over twenty countries. While it is clear that this process has not led to a widely shared common identity, this paper explores the hypothesis that national referendums on European issues do in fact contribute to the emergence of a European identity. I will propose three mechanisms by which this is likely to happen. Firstly, although referendums and especially the debate preceding them may sharpen the divide between Europhiles and Euroskeptics, they bear the potential to bring into the public sphere awarenes... Mehr ...