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MATSEC SEC European Studies study materials
MATSEC SEC European Studies study resources

MATSEC SEC European Studies: European Identity and Culture

MATSEC SEC European Studies · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

European Identity and Culture

European identity is not a single nationality: the exam tests how the EU frames shared values, symbols, citizenship and cultural cooperation while protecting national and regional diversity.

The legal core

Article 2 TEU lists the values on which the Union is founded: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. The 1993 Copenhagen criteria turn these into conditions for membership (political, economic and acceptance of the acquis), and Article 49 TEU makes respect for them a precondition for joining.

Symbols and citizenship

The flag (twelve gold stars), the anthem (Beethoven's Ode to Joy), the motto United in diversity, Europe Day on 9 May and the euro are used by the institutions but are not, as such, written into the Lisbon Treaty. EU citizenship (Article 20 TFEU) is additional to national citizenship, not a replacement: it flows from holding a member state's nationality. Its rights include free movement, non-discrimination, consular protection abroad, petitioning the European Parliament, complaining to the Ombudsman, and the European Citizens' Initiative.

Culture

Article 167 TFEU gives the EU a supporting competence: it encourages cooperation and supplements national action, with unanimity in Council for recommendations. Culture is not harmonised. Programmes include Creative Europe, Erasmus+ and the European Capitals of Culture (Valletta held the title in 2018); the European Heritage Label highlights shared heritage.

Worked example

Question: does joining the EU make a Maltese person an EU national instead of a Maltese national? Reasoning: nationality is fixed by each member state; the Treaty says EU citizenship is additional and does not replace national citizenship. The person holds Maltese nationality and derives EU citizenship from it, gaining the Article 20 rights. An answer saying EU citizenship replaces nationality loses the mark.

Traps

  • Mixing up the Council of Europe (46 states, ECHR, Strasbourg) with the EU (27 states, Court of Justice in Luxembourg).
  • Treating the Charter of Fundamental Rights as identical to the ECHR: the Charter is EU law, binding since 1 December 2009, and applies when member states implement EU law.
  • Claiming the EU can legislate to harmonise cultural traditions.