Establishing a Constitution for Europe during European Union enlargement? Visions of ‘Europe’ in the referenda campaigns in France and the Netherlands

Abstract

The construction of imaginings of ‘Europe’ is increasingly closely intertwined with the institutions of the European Union (EU). Constitutional reform of the EU is therefore a crucial moment in the production and reproduction of European imaginaries and requires a cultural geography analysis of the public debates surrounding it and the resulting voting patterns. French and Dutch citizens, in referenda on 29 May and 1 June 2005 respectively, rejected the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. This article examines the highly contested visions of political elites and citizens in these two countries to explore how Europe is imagined and re-imagined in a period of rapid territorial and institutional change encompassing both the widening and the deepening of the EU. It focuses on two dimensions of integration: widening (ie. enlargement) and deepening (ie. institutional reforms towards more integration) and the associated visions of ‘Europe’ and ‘European-ness.’ Questions addressed include “who belongs to Europe and who does not?” (with regard to widening), and “what belongs to European competencies and what should be done nationally or locally?” (with regard to deepening).

Keywords:

• EU enlargement
• Europe
• European Constitution
• European Union
• referenda
• geographical imaginary

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the guest editors for their fruitful suggestions.

Notes

1. To monitor public opinion among EU citizens, the European Commission carries out numerous opinion polls called Eurobarometer. Standard Eurobarometers (held simultaneously in each of the Member States every six months) question people about the EU, its institutions and its policies. There are also Special Eurobarometers addressing various topical issues ranging from climate change to Euro coins.

2. Flash Eurobarometers are shorter and timely on topical issues generally limited to one or a number of Member States. Flash Eurobarometers were held among the voting population after each referendum. Reports are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm

3. Unfortunately, the list of pre-coded categories varies between different Flash Eurobarometers. Because the coding is done on the spot, it is also greatly dependent on the interpretation of the interviewer and his/her coding cannot be controlled. Moreover, no information is available about the category ‘Others’ that can contain a large proportion of responses, sometimes 20–25% of the respondents in the French case.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Virginie Mamadouh

Virginie Mamadouh, Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands