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In this article, the author argues that because one of the most important constituents of common identity is emotional unification against a perceived external threat, the European identity should be grounded in such a perception. This study analyzes three potential threats to European unity: the inclusion of Turkey, the relationship between certain member states and the US, and Russian interference in EU affairs. The article explores the relationship between Belgian, Germans, Polish, and Lithuanian elites and the development of perceptions of external threats. Based on survey data from spring 2007, the article concludes that social constructivism is a useful means of interpretation for European studies, and that the concept of the European identity differs distinctly between the elites of the four nations studied. W. A. Butler

In this article we analyze the background & extent of the Europeanness of political & economic elites in the EU member states. Europeanness is defined & operationalized along the lines of emotive, cognitive-evaluative, & projective dimensions. We propose five hypotheses about the inter-relationships of dimensions of elites' Europeanness & their ideologies, macro-contexts of life experiences, cultural & social capital as well as inter-elite cueing processes. In order to test the hypotheses we use the data of interviews of political & economic elites in 17 EU member states collected in the Intune (FP6) project. The largest support is found for the hypothesis concerning the relationship between elites' Europeanness & inter-elite cueing. Considerable support is also found for the hypothesized links between elites' Europeanness & their ideologies & cultural as well as social capital. Adapted from the source document.