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After the rejection of the European Constitution in 2005, questions were raised about if and how European citizens feel connected to the European Union (EU). This article examines the image young, Flemish people have of the EU and whether they feel some sense of belonging in the EU. The research draws upon a qualitative study in which Flemish young people were asked how they felt towards the EU and how they perceived it. Using a social-constructionist perspective, the first part of the article concentrates on the concept of European identity and the theoretical divide between a civic and a cultural European political identity, as proposed by Bruter (2004). The second part of the article focuses on the results of a series of focus groups with young people (aged 17 to 19), held in spring 2007. The article argues that no strong European identity is yet present in the hearts and minds of these young people, although contexts and interactions might evoke a limited notion of European identity. This article offers an empirical account of a theoretical debate and presents a critical understanding of the dynamics at play in European identity construction.

Closing the gap between the EU and its citizens, and increasing the levels of involvement and participation has been high up on the Commission's agenda for the last fifteen years, but a common European public sphere (EPS), in which a dialogue takes place between the Commission and its citizens, is nevertheless still a long way off. This article looks at what efforts the Commission is taking to facilitate such a direct dialogue. These efforts are illustrated based on a case study analysis of the public consultation the Commission organised for the launch of Europe 2020. Our article begins by discussing, based on a policydocument analysis and several semi-structured elite interviews, the evolution of the Commission's communication policy and the changing underpinning logics of this policy, before then going into detail about the Europe 2020 case. Our case study analysis, using seven evaluation criteria, clearly illustrates different shortcomings in the way the Commission approaches the creation of a heterogeneous, inclusive forum in which people can discuss and contribute to the shaping of EU-policymaking.

While a growing number of studies have been conducted on European identification, very few of them have examined how children form their sense of European identity. This article investigates the impact of individual- and school-level characteristics on children's formation of a European identity. Multi-level analyses of data from 2,845 pupils (aged 10-14) in 68 Belgian primary schools revealed that family socio-economic status (SES), ethnicity, gender and the school's SES make-up influence the extent to which children identify as European; age, religion and school sector do not. The study clarifies the importance of examining how children form their European identity. Adapted from the source document.