Representations of European Citizenship since 1951

This book analyses the role of the European
Commission in defining European identity and citizenship. European citizenship and its
public communication have been a continuous and persistent concern for the
European Commission since the beginning of the European integration process, having communicated five different versions of European citizenship since 1951: Homo Oeconomicus (1951-1972), A People's Europe
(1973-1992), Europe of Transparency (1993-2004), Europe of Agorai (2005-2009)
and Europe of Rights (2010-2014). These varying representations are addressed to reveal how the European Commission conceived of and attempted
to facilitate the development of a Civil Europe. Ultimately this narrative,
which is based upon an analysis of public communication policy papers
and interviews with senior European Commission officials past and present,
tells a story about changing identities and about who we as Europeans
might actually be and what kind of Europe we might actually belong to.