The North-South divide in the EU

The Greek debt crisis brought to the surface a long-standing problem with the EU, namely the multifaceted gap between North and South. An excerpt from a study published in late 2006 [2] is revealing about the way southerners are perceived by northerners. It might also explain why a certain milieu in the North has approached the financial problems of the south through a civilisational prism.

A study of the Eurobarometre [1] aiming at "identifying and describing perceptions of the European Union (attitudes towards it and expectations of it)" provided revealing data as far as enlargement and Europeanness are concerned.

The report findings illustrated that what "makes Europe Europe is mainly its history and culture. When perceptions of its identity and the feeling of being Euro-pean are analyzed, we can see that the main dividing line runs between a very big South and a very small North"...in a few countries located in the northern part of Europe, the concepts of roots and cultural proximity are given much less prominence, and the sense of common historical and cultural ties is much less present in people´s minds. Of the Member States, this applies to the UK – many of whose citizens, when asked, refused point-blank to consider themselves as Europeans, the Netherlands, Denmark and (less strongly) Sweden: in these countries there is a deep-seated conviction of the superiority or specificity of the model of society that the country has developed with its own values, and a weak propensity to share with others, who tend to be seen as a threat.

These countries have only weak empathy with other Europeans, particularly with those from the South, whose mentality is seen as very different, and who are even quite overtly despised (for not being responsible, hard-working, orderly, etc.). These hypotheses about historical explanations suggest that the distances seen here are not circumstantial, but based on age-old, lasting foundations – even though the feeling of closeness or distance between European nations may, of course, vary over time.

Compared with similar studies carried out by the same consultant over 15 years (at least among the West European countries), this North–South divide has deepened. The feeling of "Europeanness" has been diluted in the northern countries mentioned above; and, in the countries of southern Europe which have recently joined the European Union, the attraction for the northern values of modernity and organization has faded: no aggression is expressed towards the peoples who symbolize it, but compared with 15 years ago there is a clearer distancing from its lifestyles and character traits, which are perceived as austere, lifeless, and lacking in color and imagination".

The above describes in essence the "European conundrum", as certain states and peoples feel almost by definition alienated from "the very big South". The schism is reflected in the divergent views expressed on political, institutional, cultural and decision-making issues within the EU bodies.

1] See "Perceptions of the European Union, a Qualitative Study of the Public´s Attitudes to and Expectations of the European Union in the 15 Member States and in 9 Candidate Coun-tries", Summary of Results, Study by OPTEM S.A.R.L for The European Commission, June 2001

2] Excerpt from George Voskopoulos (ed.), Transatlantic Relations and European Integra-tion: Realities and Dilemmas, ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad, 2006.