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This special issue of PORTAL constitutes an indirect, sideways reflection on the EU's move toward (re-)discovering, establishing, and promoting shared cultural values. It seeks to unveil not the official historical contexts and traditions in which contemporary inventions of cultural identity occur. Rather, its aim is to discover and listen to competing voices and alternative visions—be they cultural, social, political, literary or cinematic—that give different shape to trans-European identities and model union, commonality, and belonging, according to transregional or translocal values. The special issue, then, is an exploration of possible forms of frictions occurring across the European cultural and historical landscape. It questions the pre-eminence of formal EU discourses on values, and the branding of Europe in the global marketplace, by listening to marginalised, unheard or discordant Euro-voices. The issue demonstrates the need for more rigorous theorisations of notions such as 'value,' whether 'shared' or 'cultural,' in the European region, and posits alternative mappings and visions of European belonging and identity. The essays included in this special issue consider Europe as a locus of frictions, consensus, tension, contestation and reconciliation. This locus is capable of co-locating Scotland with the Costa Brava, crossing Swedish views of Russia with their converse, recognising a Europe of borders that continuously unfold, acknowledging the interference of historical memories, and inflecting the Houellebecquian Euro-futurescape with Greco-Australian undertones; to cite a few examples of vibrant transvaluation occurring in the issue.

International audience In 2003, while the United States was preparing for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, aroused a great deal of controversy, calling what he called an "old Europe". This would include France and Germany, which refuse to associate with American policy, European countries supporting it that the journalists designate by antiphrasing the "new Europe". The geodemographer may wonder whether the Secretary of State did not wish to use the qualification of "old" in the demographic sense, opposing the aged populations of Europe to others who would be young. In other words, would the geography of the population of Europe be dual? ; Un tableau, trois figures et une carte commentée, tous inédits, illustrent cet article. En 2003, alors que les Etats-Unis préparaient le renversement de Saddam Hussein en Irak, le secrétaire d'Etat américain à la Défense, Donald Rumsfeld, suscite une très forte polémique, en dénommant ce qu'il appelle une « vieille Europe ». Celle-ci serait composée notamment de la France et l'Allemagne, qui refusent de s'associer à la politique américaine, aux pays européens la soutenant que les journalistes désignent par antiphrase la « nouvelle Europe ». Le géodémographe peut se demander si le secrétaire d'Etat n'a pas souhaité utiliser la qualification de « vieille » au sens démographique, opposant des populations vieillies de l'Europe à d'autres qui seraient jeunes. Autrement dit, la géographie de la population de l'Europe serait-elle duale ?

For better or worse, the future of democracy in Europe has come to depend on the democratization of Europe, i.e. on redesigning the institutions of the European Union so that they are more accountable to the citizens of Europe. While there is not yet much evidence of an awareness of this "democratic deficit" in mass publics, there are abundant Europe-wide signs of increased politicization -most of which point to growing popular resistance to the further expansion of the scope and authority of European integration. Moreover, both monetary unification and impending Eastern enlargement seem destined to exacerbate rather than attenuate tensions over the uneven distribution of benefits. Were this not enough, there is mounting evidence that EU institutions and policies are having a significant impact upon the practice of "domestic democracy" in its member states, and that, at least in some aspects, this has undermined the legitimacy and effectiveness of established national political institutions.

For better or worse, the future of democracy in Europe has come to depend on the democratization of Europe, i.e. on redesigning the institutions of the European Union so that they are more accountable to the citizens of Europe. While there is not yet much evidence of an awareness of this "democratic deficit" in mass publics, there are abundant Europe-wide signs of increased politicization -most of which point to growing popular resistance to the further expansion of the scope and authority of European integration. Moreover, both monetary unification and impending Eastern enlargement seem destined to exacerbate rather than attenuate tensions over the uneven distribution of benefits. Were this not enough, there is mounting evidence that EU institutions and policies are having a significant impact upon the practice of "domestic democracy" in its member states, and that, at least in some aspects, this has undermined the legitimacy and effectiveness of established national political institutions.