The question “what is Europe ?” is very complex and has had many answers over time, as well as still being debated today. There are many different types of definitions that one can formulate when thinking about the definition of Europe. One of the most common is geographic. Europe is the western part of the Eurasian landmass that starts at the Atlantic and ends at the Caucasus and Ural Mountains. This definition could be problematic, however, because these geographical boarders are not clear enough and would cut Russia in two and excludes Turkey. Another common historical definition would be based off of religion or culture, specifically dividing Europe using the criteria of Christian vs. Muslim. This view has obviously not been held widely today. The last historical definition was the political definition, specifically looking at the divisions of democracy vs communism. Europe was the capitalistic west, while the eastern part of the landmass was under the influence of communism. The definition that many use today is based on the member countries within the EU. With currently 28-member states, it doesn’t encompass all of Europe, but the collective group certainty holds the most political and economic power in the region. Countries that are not part of the EU realize this and have been fighting to be added for long periods of time. Turkey, for example, has been negotiating since 1987 to join and has been unsuccessful. With a significant number of conditions and approval needed from all 28 countries, it is not easy to gain access into this group. However, the fact of the matter, is that in contemporary Europe, the EU countries are thought of as the “European continent”. The people that are citizens of an EU country can consider themselves “European”. As the geographical, cultural and political definitions have become outdated over the years, the creation of the EU has taken over as the true definition of Europe.
The Czech Republic has been a member of the EU since 2004, after about 4 years of communist rule. Since 2004, this country have been the beneficiary of billions of dollars in development funds from the EU and about 84 percent of the Czech’s exports are to intra-European countries. In more recent news, they are currently trying to adopt the euro. From the evidence presented, it is clear that the Czech Republic’s idea of Europe is probably greatly influenced by being part of the EU. Since most of their political and economic institutions are influenced by the EU, their view of Europe is likely just a view of the EU. Czech Republic has also taken a very hard stance on the migration crisis. This has been such a pressing issue that the Czech Republic is thinking about following Britain and starting “Czexit”, a nod to Brexit. In a study conducted by the STEM agency, about 60 percent of Czechs said they were unhappy with EU membership and 62 percent said they would vote against it in a referendum. This reinforces that the cultural and geographic definitions of Europe still might be considered by some within the Czech population. If they don’t want to have a quota of migrants and want to keep their European identity, their definition might be more restricted. It is no surprise that the Czech Republic would have such a restricted view on Europe. The EU has played such a vital role economically and politically that they want to keep it that way and keep benefiting from free trade and interconnectedness of the union, and would prefer not to have to share it with new members or people. Even though some Czech leaders have been called euro skeptics, they still have taken on the European identity after all these years of influence, and it shows when they want to close their boarders.
Anonymous. “Czech Republic – European Union – European Commission.” European Union. September 05, 2018. Accessed September 12, 2018.
Glencross, Andrew. The Politics of European Integration. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
Holehouse, Matthew. “Czech Republic ‘will Follow Britain out of EU’.” The Telegraph. February 23, 2016. Accessed September 11, 2018.
I find it interesting that you incorporated the Czech Republic’s European identity through both an economic and political perspective. Their economy is very much based on the European free market system and they, like Bulgaria, are hoping to join the Eurozone, which seems to demonstrate a strong European identity, or at least a certain degree of reliance on it. However, with ideas of “Czexit” circulating and a large degree of unhappiness with the EU, we see their dedication and role in the EU changing. Perhaps this “idea of Europe” is splittin to two polarized ideas of Europe, one pro-EU and one Euroskeptic.