Referenda in the context of European integration deepening: concept of national and European identity as a research perspective

There are signs in the political landscape of the EU that point out to the possibility and necessity of changes of the primary law of the EU. It cannot be ruled out that significant amendments of existing Treaties of the EU would demand ratification in referenda in some member states. This is not only because of constitutional requirements in some member states (especially Ireland), but also due to necessity to reduce democratic deficit of the EU. The main goal of this dissertation thesis is to interpret different outcomes of the past referenda (16 cases) on the EU integration treaties through the perspective of national and European (collective) identities. Therefore, the main research question is stated in the following way: “Did the different relationships between national and European identities (and different degree of their activation in the campaigns foregoing the referenda) resulted in the different outcomes of these referenda on the EU integration treaties?” From the methodological point of view, the research demands the use of comparative analysis, which is based on a number of criteria. The evaluation of the cases (referenda) in line with some of these criteria comes out from the statistical analyses (binary logistic regression and linear regression analysis) of the data from public opinion surveys (Eurobarometer). Moreover, the author utilizes empirical studies mainly in order to interpret the campaigns foregoing the referenda through the lenses of the concept of national and European identities. Thus, the respective research utilizes not only behaviouristic view on collective identities, but also the interpretation of their presence in public discourses emanating, besides other factors, from collective memories of examined countries (i.e. Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain). Besides the main research question, two supplementary research questions are affirmatively answered in the dissertation thesis (following the confirmation of three hypotheses). Moreover, the author proposes an until now non-existent theoretical model, which describes the complex relationships between collective identities on the one side, and results of the referenda on the other side. In conclusion, the author confirms that collective identities (more specifically, the relationship between their national and European dimension) have indeed played a very important role in the outcomes of the referenda on EU integration treaties.