Cultural standardisation: A byproduct of European integration

The process of European integration has had an impact on the cultural patterns of the Member States but it is not inevitably eroding national identities. By analysing the way in which the ability of the Member States to pursue a national language policy is restricted by the free movement principles and by analysing the cultural action taken at the supranational level it is argued that the European Community is genuinely committed to protecting and maintaining its cultural diversity. However, the political sensitivity which surrounds any impingement of national cultural sovereignty coupled with the fact that the objective of European integration remains primarily economic has significantly restricted the European Community's room to manoeuvre in the cultural sphere. A re-ordering of Community values and priorities would prevent non-economic interests, such as cultural interests, from being consistently trumped by those which are of an economic nature. In the meantime, the European Community must expressly and unequivocally state its commitment to cultural diversity, for example, in a Community Cultural Charter. Further, it is asserted that tangible cultural homogeneity is not required in the development of the overarching European identity necessary to legitimise the future construction of Europe.