European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

134 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYabout fundamentalist nationalism is taken to the extreme: it generatesvictims, thus violating fundamental human rights (which makes its claimto the right to self-determination illegal); its authoritarianism is of afascist kind and often mafia-like and its monopolization of the authenticexperiencing and interpretation of nationality is fanatical. In general,supporters are radically pro-independence and, thus, little enthusiasticabout projects such as the European Union. Even if they weresupporters of such Union, those of us who want to make it social anddemocratic inside and out must consider them its enemies, since theyare head-on against what must be its “ethical soul”. To confront them,the work we spoke of when we referred to fundamentalist statenationalisms becomes an even greater imperative.However, amongst minority nationalisms there are also those whichcomply with democratic principles, those which lean —more or lessfully— towards the positive side of the spectrum that I outlined at thebeginning of this presentation; these constitute, in fact, a clear majority.With regards to their attitude towards Europe, there are differencesbetween them, but even though I acknowledge that I have limitedknowledge of this and that, consequently, what I say might not bestrictly true, I believe that generally speaking they are markedly pro-European. One could hardly consider them “borderline Europeans”.However, the fact that they are in political conflict with majoritynationalisms in their respective States also entails a conflict vis-à-vis theconstruction of the European Union that the latter lead.These minority nationalisms can foster at least two types of strategies:to try to become an independent State in the Union and be jointly incharge of its construction, on equal terms with the other States (this is theradical version); or to expect the Union to acknowledge their fair andautonomous contribution to the construction of the Union in relation toeverything that is significantly related to their region´s characteristics anddevelopment (this is the moderated version). These plans entail twoproblems. The first one has to do with principles: from the point of viewof human rights, should we advance or not towards the recognition ofthe right to self-determination for nations, including minority ones? This isa problem which exceeds the European Union, but that undoubtedlyaffects it. I mentioned beforehand that I will not go into this topic since itscomplexity is such that it goes far beyond the aims of this presentation.The second problem has a prudent nature: given that there are majorityand minority nationalisms strained not only within States but also withinthe European construction framework, should we reach an agreement,an intermediate path between everyone´s plans, or should we keep onstrengthening the strict sovereignty prominence of nation States?