The European Union as a “Nation”: The “Nation” that Effaces Itself?

This article examines the European Union (EU) in light of Benedict Anderson's definition of the nation as “an imagined community … imagined as inherently limited and sovereign.” Current scholarship mostly rejects the possibility of an EU nation, or treats it only as a possible eventuality, not a current reality. Interpreting Andersonian “sovereignty” through the lens of political legitimacy, the EU nevertheless satisfies all four of Anderson's criteria, since members of the EU Parliament invoke a “European people” to legitimize their actions. EU nationhood coexists with other national loyalties. However, multiple national loyalties exist elsewhere in Europe, since British nationhood coexists with Welsh nationhood, German nationhood with Sorbian nationhood, and so on. Eurobarometer evidence also suggests that multiple loyalties are widespread. Treating the EU as a nation offers many analytical advantages, since scholars do not need to struggle with terminological novelties, but can straightforwardly apply the secondary literature on nationalism.