We feel Europe: approaches for improving positive attitudes towards the European Union in Slovenia

December 1, 2014

Author: Urška Štremfel, Meta Novak, Damjan Lajh

The European Union (EU) is increasingly faced with the problem of a lack of positive attitudes of its citizens towards its institutions and processes. Consequently, the EU pays careful attention to the various activities and projects that contribute to the development of the concept of European citizenship, especially among youth. These activities gain a high priority on the EU policy agenda and also the agendas of member states, and they challenge political science and educational research to provide the best approaches for implementation of the EU dimension in national education policy and practice in a quality and effective manner. The article discusses how the previously elaborated theoretical discussions (e.g. community-based learning, multicultural learning and non-formal learning) and empirical evidence regarding effective EU civic education have been considered when developing innovative approaches for improving knowledge about and positive attitudes towards the EU among Slovenian youth in the two Jean Monnet projects “EU at school” conducted in the last two school years at the University of Ljubljana. Based on the project results, the article concludes with implications for successful implementation of the EU dimension in the educational policies and practices in EU member states.

Key words: EU, knowledge, positive attitudes, education practice, Sloveni

Il ‘sistema’ della cittadinanza europea: un mosaico in composizione

June 1, 2010

Author: Luigi Moccia
The evolutionary dynamics set in motion since the beginnings of the integration process for an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, although still far from reaching the goal of the federation of Europe, moves along the direction of empowering the Union’s political and institutional structure and character as an autonomous community of both states and citizens, “founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity”, so defined in the preamble of the Charter of fundamental rights of the Union. From this perspective, the central tenet of the paper is that a major and most fruitful integrative factor, of both theoretical value and practical effect, which sets the link between constitutionalisation and democratic legitimation of European Union is (should be) represented by the citizenship of the Union or, in a more emphatic and symbolic way, the European citizenship: being a new kind of citizenship, not referring any longer to a state (territorial) legal order but to an area (including member states territories) without internal frontiers (the so-called area of freedom, security and justice), where European fellow citizens could (as a rule of principle tolerating but a few and limited exceptions) freely move, reside, work, do business and so forth, in absence of constraints and of any form of discrimination on grounds of nationality.

Keywords: Charter of fundamental rights, citizens, European citizenship, EU, Lisabon Treaty