European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

102 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYclearly present in community practice, but because many of theseresults are difficult to measure and need long term studies.Referring to Institutions, it is not our intention to give here anexhaustive overview of the institutions: the Economic and SocialCommittee, the Court of Justice, the European Central or InvestmentBank, the Committee of the Regions, the Council of the EuropeanUnion... It is not our intention, as not even a very superficial view wouldhave been possible.It is rather an attempt to give a series of sketches and means fortackling the later production of references and materials. We will onlyrefer to two examples and only to two of the possible levels: at theEuropean level, the Parliament and the Commission. We also include aperspective from a member state.Certainly, the institutions themselves are a symbol of «Europeanness».The European Parliament, chosen every five years by direct universalsuffrage, is the expression of the political will of 374 million —soonthere will be many more— citizens of the Union with the power tolegislate, together with the Council, with budgetary authority, thedemocratic control and political supervision over all the institutions.The European Commission represents the driving force of theinstitutional system of the Union. It has the capacity to initiate legislation,to represent the Union and to guarantee the development of treaties,negotiate agreements and take them forward to implementation.In this context and using some examples at the European level, thisfirst part of the reflection centres on the question: does the EuropeanUnion have some institutional objectives that underlie its identity? If so,then, what are they?We have concentrated on two areas that seem to us particularlysignificant. One is co-operation with Third Countries, specifically inrelation to the Development Unit. The other is Higher Education,specifically in relation to the Unit of Education and Culture. In bothfields, the debate about impact of policies on identity and theEuropean dimension is going on at this moment. Perhaps, the fact thatboth are sensitive topics for which competences have rested withmember states make them particularly interesting. Perhaps it is also thisfact that has made the way long and enriched the reflection.International co-operationEurope has, during recent years, revised its co-operation with thirdcountries. It has signed new international co-operation treaties and