Can the EU Create Europeans?
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- Опубликовано: 22 сен 2021
- What: Erasmus is one of the most popular programs that the EU offers. However, the exchange, which is a smaller part of the general Erasmus+ program, has been criticized for being elitist and creating a bottleneck for making people feel more European. We discuss the 'Erasmus effect' and relate it to future policies that are being considered.
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As a Dane who was somewhat naturally euroskeptic, going on an Erasmus Programme definitely changed my perspective. This was during the European debt crisis and I lived with a lot of Italians and Greeks in my apartment building. It was a great gift discover parts of their culture when at the time I didn’t think too much of their countries.
@@hoogyoutube ehm... response to wrong comment maybe? Nice video BTW
@@enricomilettogranozio8817 oops
@kira He's actually right. If one's views can be changed through simple anecdotal experience, they were likely founded on anecdotal experience. An adult has the ability to process knowledge beyond his direct senses and that ability is a coming-of-age experience that frighteningly few have. So yes, while the Dane who saw new perspectives fostered a larger understanding of the world, he potentially did it in a way that set himself up to have his perspective changed once again, when he has a string of negative experiences with europe's debtors.
@Estonian Nationalist being pro-europe does not mean being against your own country. You can be both. And being a nationalist means thinking your country is more importend then other countries l. Wich is objectively not true. We are equal. In the end we cant forget we are all humans.
@@mikehulsman4735 If the EU moves more towards political integration, which is a possibility, then that is very much a threat to national security of it's member states, as it would basically dissolve them. We are talking about the state as a political entity here, not just some administrative unit or some territory that a certain nationality had settled. There's nothing wrong with prioritizing the well-being of your own people, country and society over someone else's, the same way you would prioritize your family over some stranger off the street. It doesn't mean you necessarily wish harm on others, but it does mean that when given the right to chose you can freely pick your own political state, your own society, your own language, traditions and customs.
Well, you make solid arguments. But I am an Erasmus student, and for me personally, it really did change my view on the European Union. Making it feel more.. real.
As a American, this idea of creating europeans is weird. Like isn’t everyone there a european already?
@@BigBoss-sm9xj Quintessential American response
@@BigBoss-sm9xj there trying to get people to identify as Europeans first and there home country’s second.
Like how in America you’d say you’re American rather than the state that you come from if someone asked you were you’re from.
There trying to get Frenchmen, Germans, Danes ECT to say that there European if someone asked them.
I completely disagree with this hole idea, but that’s the basic premise.
@@joshbentley2307 There used to be a time in America when everyone identified with their own state more than the country. When that time returns, we will have a true republic.Keep your cultural identity. It makes you mentally stronger.
@@GavriJ you can do both you know? I am European, I am also Dutch, I am also partially Frisian.
I'm French and did Erasmus in Germany. I made so many friends there and truly think us French and Germans are cousins. The minor culture shock I felt there was not particularly higher than what I feel when traveling to other regions in France. For my work I've met many Italians, Austrians and Spanish and we get along great. I'm probably only the second generation in my family to have a positive view of Germany and our neighbours that's saying something considering our continent's history.
@Naikomi Carolingian Empire, in a sense.
Idk whether or not Erasmus is effective at "creating europeans", but it's awesome to be able to go abroad and meet young people from many different countries
And thanks to Orbán's corruption and fascism we now can't get it in Hungary. Hungary turned into a complete shithole from a middle-income central-european country, and it's a one-party-state kleptocracy very similar to what we had during the communist times (and it's no wonder fidesz allies with dictators and especially Russia and China now).
Sorry for the long comment and apologies for my "opinions" i sorta had when i was 12
Being a kid in crisis Greece i really felt that the North Europeans (the Scandinavians, the Germans, the Dutch) hated us (the Greeks). I could vividly remember walking out of my room to tell my mum and dad that i my finished homework while the tv was chating about a dutch newspaper that called us "Lazy" when both of my parents worked all day. I saw from a first hand what austerity meant, on the Education system (particularly on the peak crisis years when i went to elementary school, ie for many years there were no books until December, we had 26 kids in my class), the austerity that the Germans were so keen on enforcing upon us. When i played online games or messed around in forums i would always get the same lame jokes about "pay debt", "stop being lazy" "lol still mad about ww2". It could be very easy to understand them as the villains (after all i was taught of the crimes Germany did in the occupation, my grandad told me about the famines and about how our family had to abandon their home on foot to escape (for the 2nd time in 20 years, once from the turks and once from the nazis), i did not have any contact with anyone apart from the people in my community, a typical low middle class/working class neighborhood in a big Greek city.
So why on earth am i telling you all this in a vid about erasmus?
Well my mother went on Erasmus in the early 90s and she met people from all over Europe, 20 years later they had their reunion and they exchanged contacts, and decided to link up again, so a friend of my mums from Norway and her family that had a boy in my age came to visit ours in the summer. Its sounds so dumb but my 12yo self just found out that people from these places are not the manifestation of evil and are actually normal people. Here i am playing videogames with that boy and watching the world cup with them and they even rooted for Greece (what neutral roots for the Greek football team, we are/were unwatchable!).
I do have many problems with the EU, I do believe it desperately needs democratic reform and enormous de-cluttering if it wants to survive this next 2 decades, I do believe that there is a significant cultural gap between Mediterranean and Northern countries and that there is a multi speed Europe and those things are destroying the EU and im never gonna refer my self as european first. (And many more)
But that tiny encounter (not by itself) woke me up. Im never gonna assume that every x countryman hates us ever again(even if by rule we dont get along). Such is the power of human interaction that ERASMUS fosters. I had an erasmus effect on a second hand basis, and i cant wait to get one on a first hand basis in the near future (havent even finished first semester yet). It is one of the bigger successes of the EU.
I now believe in an European Union. Erasmus helped a tiny bit
Thx for sharing. But as a german I really need to say that you have to pay your debt.
@@koko9193 Not ''you''. He did nothing. The greek government is at fault.
Coming at this as a Swede, what we used to read at the time was how the Greeks had pensions from 55 years (we had 65) and other such luxeries, used lookholes to escape taxes (perhaps the one thing Swedish popular opinion does not forgive), and rioted in the streets to keep it this way. Of course, the blame or this is decades of short-sighted policies (we've had times of such, too, and paid the price for it), but I guess the language - and communications/media - barriers made it harder to bridge the gaps at the time.
Hope the times are getting better by now! :-)
@@axthla8435 bro. It’s a joke
Another interesting thing is that the name Erasmus actually comes from the Greek 'Erasmios', meaning "beloved"
Identifying as european is a cool trick when you are embarrassed by our home country
Yeah.
Honestly this whole"european identity" is stupid. I don't identify with the germans, spanish, british etc. When I read about the other countries's achievements I don't feel like they are mine too just because I am european. I am from a country on this continent and we adopt the values the others have if we prefer and that's it.
I feel no equivalent kinship that I feel with fellow countrymen when it comes to other europeans.
@@ionpopescu3167 I used to feel like you, but what made me feel really European for the first time was (perhaps paradoxically) living outside Europe for 18 months in Mexico. Suddenly it all made sense when I realised that my only two non-Mexican friends there (a German and a Spaniard) and I had SO much in common in terms of attitudes, expectations, values and culture. I needed the perspective of a non-European experience to really understand where I came from.
@@samuelbcn exactly. Euroskeptics should also be sent to a non-european country along with Erasmus.
@@swarupkumar2 I totally agree
@@ionpopescu3167 The achievements of other countries are not yours, and neither are the achievements of your own country. There is no meaningful difference between them. Nationality, ethnicity, etc is more like an onion than something concrete. It is closer the more you see it in your everyday life.
Erasmus is not just a European exchange program. I am a Turkish citizen and I was able to participate and study one full year in Czech Republic. It was amazing experience and I really felt what Europe means
Same as a Canadian, I went for a year to Amsterdam and to England.
We are glad to have had you here 🇨🇿
i went on an exchange to Denmark while being a chef trainee in Austria.
for me it worked well i felt alot more european after that and i was not in high education!
but as they say Ryanair did more for European unity than the EU ever did !)
connection takes tensions away.
Well Ryanair only could exist thanks to the unified airspace (starting in 1999), so technically the EU and Schengen set the stage for Ryanair to shine. The EU unified regulation allowed for an Irish company to become one of the most affordable options to travel between any two countries on the opposite side of the continent
LOL
@@aitor9185 true, but building the infrastructure is not an easy task.
People seems to miss the point about the Europen project: it's about peace. No human being could support war against a country where they have friends.
Even though it is a nice thought, people will wage war against countries where they have friends. E.g. a civil war.
Having too close ties also brings people apart, especially if someone thinks they are at a disadvantage, like in the Euro crisis or nationalism in Britain leading to Brexit.
So you must have good policies in place to handle that, otherwise it might blow up in your face.
These examples are mild, because nobody got really hurt, but it is not clear if that will be the outcome in the next crisis.
@@ArwedMett Wait, an actual thinking brain, have I read that correctly? Great comment!
Remove the eu and peace still stays
As an American this opinion makes very little sense to me. We've had peace with Canada & Mexico for well over a century. While we do have the USMCA (formerly NAFTA), if any of our politicians talked about abolishing our borders with Canada and Mexico, having a common currency with them, and merging our countries in some sort of super national union I think we'd have the common sense to tar and feather them. You don't need to abolish nation-states in the name of peace.
@@ArwedMett The EU makes war impossible due to mailing economys dependent on each other. That was its original purpose back with the coal and steel community
the free interrail EU passes that they're giving to 18 year olds serve the same purpose. The EU understands that if they want to keep the union going, they need to foster a feeling of transnational identity, and theyre wagering that if people come into contact with each other through erasmus programs or the interrail one, then the "european" identity will grow stronger within the individuals who partake in said programs.
It worked for me.
@@samuelbcn vas guanyar?
@@juanitoalcachofa1183 I tant.
As a norwegian, I do not feel like an European at all. The Erasmus I took in Spain have not changed how I feel about my identity on the inside, but it did succeed in its practice by making me fall in love with Spain and seeing outside of my own borders.
I think my ultimate goal now is to move to Spain, and as a byproduct of that I will be contributing to their scociety and bringing our two nations closer.
- Hence fullfilling Brussels goal for the Erasmus program all allong.
What we feel can be one thing, but what we do as a consecuence of good experiences is another. Mission well done.
Thank you Erasmus for the best year of my life!
also technically norway is not in the EU :P
Erasmus definitely changed my view. After a semester in Spain, surrounded by other young Europeans, I could feel what Europe can become. And it's great.
Keep on bringing interesting topics, and I would like to say that you are right, the Erasmus program does attract people who are more likely to be already pro-european. However, without Erasmus those people would still be likely to become either indifferent, or skeptics.
Example, I had classmates who were pretty much ignoring the EU, and considering how much media likes to bring out the negatives of everything, they were quite likely to turn to skeptics. However, when they found out how easy it is to go to Portugal and Slovenia, and that Erasmus is more about having good time and friendships, they very much turned to pro-european since they made very good friends there.
Exactly. I actually think some of the studies that show that self identification as European post Erasmus doesn't really change are pretty outdated. Some recent studies actually show the exact opposite: www.researchgate.net/publication/261567802_Rethinking_the_'Erasmus_Effect'_on_European_Identity#:~:text=The%20Erasmus%20programme%2C%20through%20the,on%20ENP%20countries.%20...
Thing is, people opposing the pro-europe crowd still aren't going to touch it with a 10-foot pole. In fact, like one of the other videos from the channel explains, they're more likely to go have a career in US than EU, contributing to the brain drain. And the EU's attempts to federalize & subvert the national identity make Erasmus appear in a politically colored light.
I personally have been involved with Erasmus projects previously, and my stance hasn't really changed. That is because I place emphasis on individual autonomy over group identity, and thus can clearly see the patterns of manipulation present in modern society.
@@sintheemptyone8108 I have not met a single person yet, not going on Erasmus because of ideological reasons. No one is forcing you there to do anything. You don't have to attend obligatory, pro-EU brainwash classes. Actually you can complain all day about the EU and subversion of national identy by Brussels elites and you'll still get your money, as long as you also happent o fulfil the minimum ECTS requirements and do actual study on the sides at least as well.
People who are afraid about the national identity being subverted by an EU or something else seem to me to be generally rather insecure about their own identity. Otherwise they wouldn't worry about loosing it. No one is being forced to sing Ode to Joy or other funny stuff on Erasmus. All it does is supporting people going abroad within the EU and meeting a lot of other fellow Europeans (as well as other foreign students too).
@@sagichnicht6748 Frankly, the whole tug of war between national & european identity just displays the utter idiocy of the crowds that flock to the political theatre. And then you have a few talking heads to toss gasoline into that fire.
Ultimately, I've come to see things like Erasmus as a way of spreading the principles & the distinction between material & spiritual individualism to my country & region. The way I see it, rulers throughout history have used group identities to get us to do as we're told.
@@sintheemptyone8108 well anyone against a federal European government doesn't know shit about history and is totally uneducated in government.
To be honest most Erasmus students I have talked to see it more as a trip abroad than anything else, it improves language skills but doesn't change minds. Even eurosceptic people participate in it and come out just the same.
Trips abroad often change minds. Especially if you get to know new people.
To be honest i somewhat doubt that You went and asked all those Erasmus students You talked to, whether they feel like Europeans.. sorry about the accusation ;~)
And anyway, identity comes later, first they realise that people act human in other countries as well, that gives room to some thought on identity..
@@IHaveAHobby that or pretty naive (or both)
and since everyone is born naive, its not so difficult.
depends. My first time visiting Europe (as a Latin American) completely rewired my view of the world.
I'm 21 and live in the UK but only found out about Erasmus after I went to Uni and met people on it. I know we left the EU now but even before, Erasmus opportunities were never promoted in the UK
UK being UK
@@marioferreira7605 yup, I have been to 3 Erasmus during highschool
@@marioferreira7605 yep
Doing an erasmus rn in arab country
Coming back to portugal in january
Yeah but it still cost a fortune
Wasn't fit for purpose
UK has some of the best uni's on the planet
@@neilroberts5434cost a fortune? Still riding the „muh infinite money pit“ lie that made the uk quit?
im a polish student i was on erasmus to ubeda in spain it was super fun i was drunk half the time with my friends
O kurwa....
Beyond the high level idea of being pro European, i think Erasmus helps in a bottom up approach by helping people across Europe form lifelong friendships regardless of geography
I’m American and I’m studying abroad in England right now. I have made dozens of friends from all over Europe and I’ve learned so much from them. My perspective and worldview have definitely been impacted by this experience.
Erasmus orgasmus babyyyy
Definitely changed my view. Not just the Erasmus itself but all other European acquaintances I made during trips too. Which wouldn't have been nearly as easy wo the Schengen agreement. I think it works
And also, don't get things confused. Educated people don't all support EU identity more than their own country, it's just that educated people in general tend to have a more pro-EU stance, since the European Union is supporting education in general and providing additional funds and privileges to the educated class. If everyone was very well educated, then the Erasmus would still have been pretty ineffective
Yeah, very fair point.
Nonsense. They are more pro-eu because it is based on free-market and thus on properties.
I remember in 2018 I think when I was at a big ESN (Erasmus Student Network) meeting in Tessaloniki we watched a recording of JC Juncker congratulating us for our work and saying that the program will get even greater funding in the future. It was quite emotional and impactful for me. I hope it will one day cover also cover high-school like it does uni and more people will go. I'm doing my part in the last one.
The international baccalaureate is a good enough programme to make sure students have a good education I’d say. Not sure why you’d want secondary school students to move away from home at such a young age
SKG Salonika represent
Good video, but one small criticism: the stars in the background are a bit distracting. Making them static or just slowly fading in and out would be better in my opinion.
Thanks Jonathan. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again :)
100% agree with Jonathan
i think it would be cool if there was a smooth animation of the stars moving rather than a few frames alternating
I attended a youth exchange program. I was really euroskeptic before that and used to make ironic jokes with my mates about EU and "european identity". After the exchange I really started warming up to the thought. Now, many years and exchanges later I'm leaning towards calling myself a supporter of EU. For example in discussions I mostly take the "pro" side.
Only one disturbing/annoying thing is that every activity has to do with EU pandering. For me, the EU "propaganda" activities did much less for me than actually being together with people from other cultures and sharing experiences.
The visuals are a bit trippy, but really nice video. Subscribed.
Agreed that the trip factor is high. I'm going to dive deep into some other editing programs, so the next video can look more put together.
Romulus say what you will, the somewhat trippy aesthetic made this an absolute blast to watch while stoned :)
also another factor for a wonderful trip was the absolute obtuseness of an English-languaged video pronouncing dutch words perfectly every time
As someone who is from Croatia and is working in Netherlands, the main issue for someone to feel "more European" is probably more on the side of language comprehension than cultural differences since to be honest i feel no less home in Netherlands than in Croatia when it comes to culture but maybe work a bit more to introduce a way to easily get some language lessons for people coming from other European countries. If i had a way to get fluent in Dutch faster i would take it but as it stand it's very hard to get into the society when you are not speaking the language of the country you are in. I am pretty sure it counts for every country besides Ireland and England which have an edge already since English is lingua franca today.
Most Dutch people will at least be able to speak English, German has some chance near the border, French perhaps but since Belgium is in the way and the language border is in Belgium less so. The Croatians/Croats I've met were nice people, but yeah hard for coatians to learn dutch or for the dutch to learn Croatian
I wasn't pro European before Erasmus. Also Erasmus did not make me pro European instantly, but it made me see the similarities we have as Europeans. In the long run I found out, that I felt more and more European.
I did Erasmus and my love to the EU increased even more, plus I learned a new language which is very helpful nowadays! 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺
I have been watching some of your videos (I only found your channel this morning). I just want to say thank you for all the great content.
The title reminds me of the famouse quote:
"We have made Italy, now we need to make italians"
Said after the unification of Italy, ofc.
As an American all of this is very strange to me, i could never imagine a government body trying to tell me rather than identifying myself lets say as a Spaniard i should instead identify myself as just a European, and have my culture be integrated into the french, german, and UK culture and visa versa, i see what their intention is, which is practically nation and national identity building via the EU, but like stated in the video most people from lower classes who tend to be more closely connected with their culture will push back hard against this imho.
Sorry for late response. You totally didn't get it
As much as it tries to create an european identity, it is not saying "Ignore your roots" or that you shouldn't identify as a spaniard. But rather to know and understand that all european cultures are different, but with a lot of similarities, that those differences are not a problem, but rather something that will help unify us in a stronger union
@@joaquimbarbosa896 That's exactly it. Just like identifying as an American wouldn't make you feel any less Texan, or wherever you might be from.
I personally strongly identify as European, but that doesn't take away that I'm Dutch, and I think, feel and act like a Dutchman in many, many ways.
@@tubietubenl6106 I say the same, as a portuguese. I love my country, and identifying as european doesn't change that, rather it adds meaning to my portuguese identity
Well you identify as an American, and not as a Texan, or Californian, or whichever state you are from right? That's the idea here as well. The EU is greatly lacking in cohesion right now, in a way the US never did since the Civil War.
If you ask Americans about what the cornerstones to their cultural background, they will probably list quite overlapping things about freedom, democracy, American exceptionalism, innovative spirit etc. regardless of the region they are from
If you ask Europeans the same you will get a lot more disparity, and that's the core problem that is leading to an "us vs them" mentality, even though we are supposed to be playing in the same team.
Holy shit you are so unaware. Who are you? An AMERICAN? Not a Texan/…? Dude come on you literally are living in the scenario the eu wants to create
As someone who did the Erasmus+ program right as Covid hit, with a less university and more trades-oriented education, I can say, wholeheartedly, it made 0 difference on my political beliefs. They did give me some money though, thanks EU :)
It's not about changing one's political belief. It's about making someone believe in a pan european identity while maintaining their individual political beliefs.
@@swarupkumar2 Making someone believe in a "pan-European identity" can, and will, change political beliefs. To think otherwise is being naive.
Typically the idea behind the program is that by interacting with other europeans and seeing what one has in common, it will result in identifying more with Europe as a whole (and thus support for pan-european integration). I would expect that to have at least some impact, unless I am missing something. So I ask, why did it make 0 difference? Could you explain what your beliefs are and why you believe the program had no impact?
@@venmis137 Ok, I will explain in detail. Our entire class got the opportunity to participate in the Erasmus+ program. The specifics of participation vary depending on what kind of education you are getting. In our case, the idea was for us to be placed into the workforce in the service industry of some European country. The group I was in ended up being placed in a Balkan country. This was all at the early teetering of the virus (around about when Italy started having trouble containing its spread).
Everyone in my class, including me, treated it as a vacation. We got there, we spent a week (out of a planned 3 or 4? little unsure), then got promptly evacuated as the world went into lockdown. There are multiple reasons I can say that neither I nor any of my classmates had our political views changed on Europe.
1. We ended up getting a much greater appreciation for our own country's laws around worker protections and health and safety. (Which our entire group picked up on, even the teacher).
2. The program is very distant from its actual goals. It's not like a propaganda campaign to make you more European. It was more like a very dull low-pay internship (money provided by the Eu, not the workplace. Ended up being good pay for us since we only spent a week out of the planned amount there and got paid for the entire thing).
3. Though not transformative, I found the time informative (not negatively or positively), that's on a more personal level and not speaking for the entire group's experience. I consider myself a relatively well-informed person, and I approach the Eu with cautious optimism. Doing the Erasmus+ program has not changed this in any way, nor has it made me want to identify more European than before.
Maybe if we'd been there longer, but I seriously doubt that would have made a positive impact. Some in our group did not have nearly as good a time as I did. This is why I say the Erasmus+ program made 0 difference to my political beliefs, but I thanked Eu for the money.
Yes there is a big difference in experience when you go to western Europe or eastern Europe. And secondly the amount of time you spend there also matters. Because in a short time it's difficult to make any meaningful friendships so one tends to focus more on the practical/livelihood stuff. But with time when people do build those deep bonds of friendship then the perspective also changes. It is a very human tendency.
I'm falling in love with your channel. Thank you for the great content! You earned a new subscriber.
My American ass watching this: "I feel so much more European now!" lolol
i am a romanian student. my school is in erasmus+ but no longer has any projects as of yet. in my town are 3 highschools and only one is in erasmus+ and has projects. we (students from the town) are happy with erasmus+ because we get to travel for free in other countries.
I think Erasmus is amazing. I love the fact that it brings people closer together and that it gives us the opportunity to find things we have in common with other people from Europe. Even though the EU has a lot of improving to do to become a place and a government that people can feel part of and really feel represented by but I do hope Erasmus helps us unite one day.
I think the EU is worth saving and an reforming so that it can become better for all of us.
Some of my classmates went ti turkey because of erasmus. I personally wasnt there but my teacher gave me some photos and videos they took and asked me if I could make a video for school from them. I also talked with my classmates about their trip. All of this made me think that not just erasmus but the EU aswell is a good idea. Sorry for my broken english
Maybe I am not the right person to tell you, considering that I'm German, but your English reads pretty good to me.
@@yama123numbercauseytdemand4 thanks
@@Filuminat You're welcome.
Yes ,the erasmus is on the european side of Turkey but still it isn’t in the EU. On my university they promote cheaper countries to travel to such as hungary,Czechia and Turkey. Also because they are countries that most Belgian people know less about. I went to Czechia and it was great. You can still go to france or germany but I think that these lesser known countries are like hidden gems.
@@bumin6451 Česko je super :D (czechia is great)
I come from your startups video and after thinking about it in the shower I thought that it pointed out interesting topics, but checking your website and your "mission" I felt skepticisim, because I get the feeling that to me, being "European" is less of an identity as it is an "economic/geographic position", and wondered about what kind of "culture" could there be that would make someone an European.
So when I thought about what makes me think of me as an "European", and thought "Erasmus", then saw it on your uploads, I knew I had to watch this video. If there's anything that makes me feel European other than that rare moment when I travel abroad without a passport and just with my Spanish ID or without having to stop at the border, or watching the EuroCup with discord friends it is Erasmus. I went to Germany (Munich) and it was a changing experience. Huge shoutout to the International Club of the Hochschule München, they're a big part of why I enjoyed my stay so much, they organized a lot of activities where I'd meet people from all around Europe (and the world).
I didn't learn much German while in there, because I mostly spoke in English or Spanish (met and befriended a lot of Spaniards and Mexicans there), but I really feel like the experience changed me. I met a lot of people from the continent, from roommates to classmates to people in clubs that I had a lot of fun with, had awesome conversations, I experienced city life, I traveled a lot around Europe (Munich + FlixBus is an awesome combination).
I do feel like it has made me more European. I do think it's true in the sense that I was more "primed" for it, my dad works for a supraguvernmental agency (translator, nothing crazy) so I've gone visit a couple times when he had to work for a month abroad (Geneva) and I'd traveled to several countries by the time I was an adult. I had positive feelings about the EU because of this, easiness of travel, etc, but I didn't feel any sense of "connection" to any kind of "European culture" besides Roman ruins maybe. Plus I'm mixed race (half Asian) so I've always felt like I don't belong anywhere, like I'm not a true Spaniard. And in that sense, Erasmus kind of made an "European experience" out of these ingredients to cook up an European identity, to make me feel part of European culture. It didn't turn me Euro from anti-Euro but it did solidify an identity that was made from negative values (I am not-Spanish) to something coming from positive values (I am European). It also helped me miss my country and fall in love with it again (and a ton of the people with whom I still maintain contact are from here)
I also do agree on that fact that Erasmus selects pretty heavily on people who are already primed into the whole thing. Languages give points and people who don't care/haven't learned the language have less chances to go than people who do. On the other hand though, I have a friend that went on those "vocational" Erasmus programs and it being in Italy, they didn't ask him for any kind of language level (I assume due to us being from Spain).
Interesting point of view.
In my opinion being european means more like having common political idea than having common culture.
We think politics as other countries, especially in the past, don't. We europeans are the same people who cut off the heads of the kings, who hanged the dictators, who fought the oppressors of the nation. We never accepted an absolute power upon us.
Our way to think comes from our common history:
- the democracy from Greece
- the law and the friendship between leadership and the people from Roman Republic
- the respect for the human being from christianity (and I am an atheist)
- the concept of citizenship and the division of powers from Revolutionary France
- the respect for the workers from socialism.
A european is someone who believes in all this things.
It seems to be a club for rich kids, who can afford living in the west and had acces to better language education
@ger du in Poland University are free for everyone.
Lol I'm not rich and I've done it
So I don't get the rich club kids comment
I am from the (original) Euregio, a major border region between germany and the netherlands. Ive lived on both sides of the border, when i grew up and still. During the first waves of lockdowns in 2020, this was among the only borders that remained open despite what national governments did, because the communication between Dutch local govs with german local govs in the Euregio was better than that between those dutch local govs and the Hague, or those german local govs and Düsseldorf..
I identify primarily as an European, secondarily as Dutchwoman.
Erasmus is nice, but I don't feel any more European because of it. If the current amount of bureaucracy, double standards, absurd laws, corruption and lack of transparency persists, I won't become any more pro-EU. Erasmus, Schengen and EEA/EFTA would still work without the EU.
I'm not flat out agains the EU, but rather don't like its current state. I'm against federalization, though. Let's keep it an economic union as it was intended to be.
Just my 2 cents, I think people overly attached to their national identity may be that way because they have not realized that the differences between European states are miniscule compared to the differences between Europe as a whole and another massive superpower like China. Just because people in Germany like to eat pineapple with their pizza while here in Italy it would be considered a travesty, it doesn't mean I don't feel a connection to them, at the end of the day, the values that we share and our way of life are pretty much the same, and this is a result of our long and intertwined histories. In a globalized world like the one we live in, I think it makes very little sense to nitpick on small national differences and instead we should band together to be on the same level of the other mastodontic global players on the world stage such as the US, Russia and China
@@IHaveAHobby Excuse me I have a stupid question about english, if you reply I would be grateful to you. In english a group of people with common religion, tradition, language etc etc is called "people", right? which is a plural, like bears form a group, people form a group, but as individual beings, meanwhile in italian we translate that meaning of people with "popolo", which is a singular word, as we call a group of animals flock, we call that group of people "popolo", as a uniform group: does the word "people" means more a group of individuals or a uniform group? Is there a cultural reason?
@@IHaveAHobby My question was more about the language than cultural and politics. It was how you english feel when someone use "people".
However, I quite disagree with you. Religion such as political ideas for EU is a way to consider the world and people who believe in the same religion basically think in a very similar way. That's what unite people the most. If you look at nationalists in this moment they all have good relations with other countries nationalists, because they all want to divide their countries so they are friend, no matter the different cultures and languages ecc. That's an example of how common political ideas put together people. EU is trying to put together people who believes in common ideas: democracy, law, secolarism, freedom ecc
@@IHaveAHobby That's also true but EU depend on us and if we think it in a way, EU may become what we think
I find it stupid. As a european i already identyfy as european. However there can never be an actual european nationality since europe as a nation dosen't and should never excist. I'm my countries nationality and by extention european
I spaniard and on my first year of collegue i was bad as fuck in english. i shared flar with Erasmus's people. I was in my own country but i was the whole day with other europeans. Some of them are part of my best friends now, also i improve my english (just speaking xd) and i feel so proud to be european. as spainsh we think Germany or denmark are so diferente than Spain cause the lenguaje or whatever but when both of us share a live together you realize than you are fucking the same. Sorry for my english's level i know that my writtimg sucks😅
Dank je wel voor jouw video :) ad thanks for the YT algorithm recommending it to me... I'm German studying in France and that's definitely deepening my European identity. however, the point of privilege is important to bear in mind too!
It doesn't fit with the topic but I want to say a thing.
Some centuries ago Italy was divided and there was a competition between Venice and Genoa which were trying to control the Mediterranean sea. A person who lived centuries ago wrote a story. I don't remember its name but at some point he tells about a merchant from Venice and a merchant from Genoa who casually meet in Turkey, and although their country hate each other, they were so happy to meet another italian... ITALIAN, Italy didn't exist at all, no one was hoping to unify the peninsula, but they both felt italians and they were happy.
Well, if some day during an holiday in China or India or Russia I casually meet another european, I would be really happy. That's why I call myself a european 🇪🇺
how can you have a common identity when your citizens speak so many different languages?
trillion dollar question
I met Erasmus students and some of them were such racists, almost impossible to explain to them the common grounds for all humans. They used Erasmus to see different cultures and often mock them and just get drunk. They returned to their native countries, chest pounding and seeing these differences made them feel even less connected to the others.
Lol
As a Romanian, I've been in Erasmus with Turkish, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Greeks. Because of this I would be strongly inclined accept Turks in the EU because I saw how awesome they were. Literally all the people there were amazing and we weren't loosing time also, every project had a theme: Eco protect, psichology, road safety etc, first aid, etc. This was one of the best project that EU founded.
And don't forget that the European identity was created by tourism when trains became more popular. Trains -> Tourism -> Books and culture -> identity. If I am not mistaken it was really stared by english going to the Grand Tour around Europe.
Meh, my loyalty will never be to a mostly foreign flag. My nation is my home. Europe is where my neighboors live. But i will never wave the EU flag..its not my flag. I did erasmus for the trip. Same as the rest of the students. We were visiton a foreign nation.
I understand. I actually think I milked the EU flag a bit too much here as opposed to just referencing some form of European identity. But learn and repeat
@@marioferreira7605 its is an international flag. The only flag im proud of is the one of my country. If the EU was purely a Economic and Military Alliance i would be fine with it. But this idea of losing our identity as Portuguese, Spanish, French etc to just "european" makes me feel unease with the EU flag.
The EU is fine as long as nations keep their independence, i dont like having a foreign government in brussels telling me what to do. The EU should act more like an Alliance. And have a government made of all nations with the same number of politics by each nation. That way no nation would lose their indepence but the future of europe would be discussed by all equally.
@@dedeferreira98 I guess you are right, but the EU flag symbolises peace and friendship among our neighbours. We are finally not at constant war and conflict with each other, and we are stronger allied. Many enemies will try do divide us, same for corrupt politicians since “divide et impera” is a very good tactic to violate our civilisation.
We must stay united as allies, as friends and as neighbours,
@@comment514 Central and Eastern Europe (and arguably the Mediterranean countries) are collapsing due to massive emigration to Germany and Western European countries. It hasn’t been good for those countries at all. It’s more akin to economic subjugation of those places than being allied with the EU power brokers
@@overdose8329there needs to be some reforms, im not saying the whole thing is perfect
Currently in second year of university, hoping to take advantage of Erasmus for my final year. Polish student, wanting to spend a year in the Netherlands
But even as a supporter of a federalised Europe I will always identify as Polish first, European second I doubt that will change.
"Why can't Yugoslavia create Yugoslavs?"
"Why can't the EU create Europeans?"
Yugoslavia made Yugoslavs but communism kinda broke it
@@tomendruweit9386 There was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia before communism, a monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. This also failed to create a unified Yugoslavian identity and quickly devolved into authoritarianism. The EU seems much less ambitious in that regard and much more robust and stable.
@@scolic03 fair enough
I had an internship in the UK for a few months in high school, through Erasmus. It was interesting live with the britts for a while, see their country learn about their culture, but wouldn't say it made me feel more European. Rather the opposite I learned to appreciate Sweden more.
I dropped out of Uni in Wales because the course and its lecturers were shit, but damn I miss the people I met there. Dropping out is easily the hardest choice I have made.
Living there did make me appreciate Norway more, but I would not mind living in Wales.
Interestingly, as a Canadian the programs my university had merged with Erasmus programs, so in a way I feel a part of that pan-european culture even though I am not European. I lived with Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Hungarians, British, and so on. Very grateful to have had the experience.
Interesting video to see for me since I’m going to be part of an erasmusc programme in 2 months
I am going to Malta with Erasmus this April, hopefully corona will die down a bit by then, can't wait :)
I really like this video and feels very professionel in its presentation. The choice of colours at 3:15 is a bit misleading however, as the lines begins with a ' - ' and the text colour is red. Both indicators for a negative developement.
Might be bias, but I think those are great news
Noted, but I promise you that I chose red because it is a complementary color, and dash as a bullet point without the intention of making it seem like a negative thing.
@@hoogyoutube makes sense
I wish I could still do Erasmus, but it looks like by the time I enter that stage of education our gov't will have fully removed us from the program. Whilst I would've likely enjoyed the experience, I doubt it would've changed my political beliefs much. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with nations, which is to be expected due to their variable qualities and drawbacks. I still tend to support global integration though, and I'm happy that we are getting closer towards economic parity with the rest of the World. I am generally quite favourable of european integration, although I do worry that regionalisation might have a negative impact on global integration (but that's an idealistic perspective, globalism might be plateauing soon, and in that case it's more practical to keep the project alive via regional institutions than trying and failing to maintain a global front).
I'm actually gonna participate in the Erasmus project next year :)
as a syrian who's been in france for well over 6 years now, i couldn't benefit from this program, as access to it for non europeans is somewhat challenging, however, the syrians i know who have benefited from this program, are more europeans today than they are syrians, european society has a charm that attracts new comers 'if they have the mindset' to integrate and fall in love with their new identity that you can't simply find anywhere else in the world
Then if I am an Erasmus student in the UK what am I? I need to mention that I started to be prouder to be European than British since I started to do research by Brexit and how it affected me (for a couple of months).
if a movement gets going in the UK, they'll have another vote on EU membership
I too did two student exchanges with french guys. It was very interesting and I‘d say it does have a positive impact
yo editor amazing job, therefore i need to point this out: wouldn't put number defining a growth in red preceded by a dash that looks a lot like -60%
That’s interesting because I live in the UK, and sadly will never see what Erasmus looks like, but by learning more about the EU, I have kinda personally developed a Pan-European identity.
I disagree. Reasons why.
1 After brexit we just want a free trade deal like we always hard sensory we joined. All Britain is asking for is 1 we want control of our borders 2 we want make our own trade deals 3 we want to remove the crappy EU laws only the crappy ones the good ones can stay 4 we want control our fishing grounds. The EU is making it a necessarily difficult to make that deal. I feel EU hate Britain with a burning Passion. The French are not helping us out with stopping people trafficking even we are giving them so much money to do so. I feel like the French are doing it out of spite. I just don't think Britain is European in the slightest Britain is just Britain. I am curious why you think like that way. I hope I didn't come off a bit rude or aggressive that is not my intention. If you disagree with me that is fine more power to you.
@@freedompodcast4518 I think program is vary globalist in nature. This is due to the fact that they are trying to create an European identity, which may be achieved at the expense of national ones
@@glassychap1141 That's why I am so happy Britain left the EU.
@@freedompodcast4518 the whole reason of EU is to create a European identity. I understand that you Brits don't feel that way and I respect. But why would EU allow UK to have their cake and eat it too.
Leave then
Have been for a time in Erasmus, and it only made me more euroesceptic
I used Erasmus, I was euroskeptic before and I knew this was made to make us "european" .. I'm just more nationalistic after Erasmus and I saw how (in all respect) we all have different countries and think about world differently. We all are more respectful and understanding to each other but you just see the differences everyday which is beautiful in the end and that is why Europe has so much "culture" because it is not diluted into some "melting pot of grey mass" ... thank God for that :)
Erasmus doesn't erase the origin of Eurosceptiscm, but it gives those affected by them a different perspective to evaluate the Union. Only having one perspective is the major driving factor in hardline opinions, and offerering more insights can only help.
To those that have only a single vantage point, a EU with flaws is a failure to be abandoned. To someone who experienced a different view, it changes to system that needs reformation or adaptation. The major difference between these two positions is the perspective on the future - it paints a "together" rather then "every one for them selves".
I was on the Erasmus program and I should have visited spain for free but covid ruined it :(
i expected comedy and i found knolage. im not disapointed, now im subscribed.
Did anyone ever think about "Does Europe NEED a unified Identity?"
Yes, plenty
It has since the beginning of time, national governments and foreign powers have just suppressed it.
I’m Czech going on Erasmus to Luxembourg this summer. Can’t wait!!!!!!
quick joke: European patriotism
Strictly speaking Europe is a continent that spans from Iceland to the Ural Mountains in Russia and from Malta, Sicily, Crete and Cyprus to the North Pole. Everyone is that region can claim to be European. Just because most of the countries in Europe are members of the EU, that doesn't exclude the Swiss, the Norwegians or the Russians from claiming that they are Europeans.
Well yes they are europeans but not europeans (citizens). A european citizens believe in democracy, equality, friendship among the people and peace, law, separation of powers, freedom, self-determination. In my opinion, also a sub-saharan country (for example) could enter EU and be considered as european if by european we mean that thing and if a sub-saharan country would be democratic as a european one.
(Yes calling european an african country quite sounds racist)
Never considered myself an European. Being part of EEA, it feels like we are part of the EU without any benefits and it mostly feels like the EU just want to take advantage of our resources.
I am more in favour of a Nordic Union with my neighbours, but I am not seeing that happening anytime soon.
i mean i can see this programme befitting both the eu and the students but at its core it all just seems to be a way for the eu to clamour more power from the individual countries in the coming years due to enforcing a wider more populous appeal for the organisation
I'm a Euroskeptic and participated in the ersamus program for two semesters. It didn't change my opinion on Europe because I have pragmatic arguments to fuel my skepticism.
I can see however how it can sway someone on the emotional side of things.
sure, lol :D
well everyone I ask that participated in Erasmus tells me the point of Erasmus is to party...
otherwise the title was slightly misleading, I thougt EU actually might work towards increasing the birthrate of europeans, which is ofcourse not the case,
EU has way more elegant solutions as advised by different lobbying factors from outside of EU...
Now that we have made Italy, we must make Italians
That’s exactly what I thought of
"Now that we have made Germany, we must make Germans."
"Now that we have made Spain, we must make Spaniards."
What did these people have in common that Eupians do not and will never have? A unifying language and culture.
@@kavky i dont think the EU should be making europeans, everyone should stll prefer their original nationality. EU serves its member states, not the other way around
@@evilmurlock It's pretty much the other way around right now.
@@kavky Yea, but it should not be.
Throughout all the of the challenges and critizism the EU project has gone through, it is undeniable that the benefits of it have far outweighed its problems. Erasmus and freedom of movement is amazing. I'm all in for further intergration.
Yeah at the cost of destroying Eastern and Central Europe for the benefit of Germany and Western Europe.
@@overdose8329 Oh please, look at Poland for example. Their economy has been skyrocketing before they joined the EU and membership has only enhanced their trajectory. More Polish nationals are migrating into Poland now than leaving and they have received enormous amounts of EU to modernize their infrastructure. Not to mention how freedom of movement has brought countless amounts of EU tourists. I can go on and on in listing the benefits. Rich countries have benefited too of course but that's how it works. We all lost something and gain something. In this cause what everyone is gaining is worth way more than what they are letting go.
@@juangabriel123ify 1. Since the EU net migration overall has been negative for Poland (maybe that’s reversing now but only slightly)
2. Counter examples are Romania and Bulgaria for complete demographic collapse
3. All those countries have gotten more expensive to live in
@@overdose8329 You're meaning to tell me that Romania and Bulgaria would be better off not in the EU? Do you think the young college graduates of Bulgaria and Romania would stay in their country if it wasn't for Schengen? Come on, be real.
@@juangabriel123ify They’d be forced to stay there and contribute to rebuilding their country post communism instead of abandoning ship and leaving them as shit holes
I'm European, yeah, but the European _Union_ doesn't hold my values at all, so why should I bother to respect or follow _them_ and _their_ idea's and propaganda? No thanks.
Do you know what is creating Europeans? When EU members treat each other as equals. 2015 migrant crisis was a huge setback for the EU and European identity. Western politicians thought they can dictate what eastern members can and cannot do and when they realized that these countries are not just subservient untermensch as they thought they started calling them names.... meanwhile their own voters felt alienated because many agreed with border measures applied by eastern members and fled to Eurosceptic parties because there simply wasn't an alternative on mainstream political map back then. After series of disastrous elections, western politicians grew wiser and actually stood behind Poland in 2021when Belarus tried to create new migrant crisis... but that is too little too late and merely an band aid over huge gash they themselves created.
i'm a french student who went on erasmus and i can't certify that erasmus stregthen national identity bc it's the main differentiation factor between social groups (the frenchies, the spaniards, the italians etc)
sure it makes us more european but it also makes us european in all ways, european union is a friendly reunion of rivals and the constant banter between erasmus students certainly shows this point
From my personal experience I have kinda two nationalities. There's Polish one and European one. Obviously polishness is more about the history and culture and language and other Very Important Stuff. Europeanisness is more practical. It's about where I can travel without passport, it's about where tourists and work partners usually come from
The Soviet Union tried something like this (make everybody a “Soviet” instead of a Russian, Ukrainian, etc.)
Like all creepy mass social engineering projects, it failed. You can’t force something that isn’t there.
One big difference; there is no goal of erasing the national identity and replacing it with a European identity here. I strongly identify as a European, but that doesn't make me any less Dutch.
Ok so a few thousand posh uni students got Brussels money for their gap yah, even if theres a few more pen pals on the continent that doesnt seem like real progress.
By that measure Russia is a masterclass of diplomacy because everyone is playing multiplayer games with them online
Seems interesting, I was in an Erasmus programme, although I think the idea of creating this unique identity won't be achieved like this, Europe is too diverse, something else would be needed
There are several methods to look at unifying large amount of people. The French, Americans, Russians, Chinese and Indians all have come up with their methods. The French want to turn Europe into one big France, but no one is going to buy that. I think an European culture is going to be a mix of the American culture with old nation-state cultures locally like India is having. The EU has a very high chance of becoming a second Canada though: An America not pretending to be one. And if you're asking me, that's would be just unnecessary bureaucracy. Why the hell should we have an European D.C. and an American D.C. when they both do the exact same?
@@hendrikdependrik1891 i just had a stroke reading this and how the hell would ezrope become a second canada if putin has literally declared poland as their "biggest enemy"
My opinion
We should not be stressing about being European first.
Or identities in general.
Each man has a unique identity shaped by themselves.
Lets make sure that a kind of European consciousness is a small part of that. If the eu wants to make Europeans its only possible through a positive impact on their lives
It worked for me. I definitely feel a European identity after my Erasmus. For all the good it does with me being British haha.
the european identity already exists, rule of law, democracy, gender equality, codification rooted in roman law
the goal of the program is to bring us closer, know eachother a bit more (and as a side effect, make some babies)
A "European Identity" is created more by NA chatters on Twitch shitting on EU, hate can do so much more than love in humans.
Just found this vid while being in Germany under the program
Just applied to ERASMUS(switzerland and italy) today!
I always wanted to go to erasmus programs on my university but never had the grades high enough😢
Erasmus is also available for high-schoolers in the Netherlands
+ in Latvia
+ Italy
Erasmus is just there so you can go party in another country for 6months 😂
The RUclips comment section is just there so you can go on an uninformed rant whenever you feel like it 😂🤡
nice work
Got to be honest - as an Englishman I feel no pride in the achievements of the Romanian nation, I don’t look at Italian art as part of my heritage, I find my sense of humour doesn’t work on the French members of my family, I don’t care about the outcome of the Swedish elections. I am a European yes, but it forms no part of my self-identity.
Maybe you don't realise how much of your culture comes from other places in Europe.
What is left of British art without influences from European renaissance, romanticism, impressionism, etc etc?
Re. Romania, they produced their fair share of great minds - top of my head Cioran, Eliade, Ionesco. Romania is part of a continuum of countries that produced your own culture, whether you know it or not.
English humour is (mostly) amazing, and universally appreciated - sounds like you're on to something special here, jokes funny only to your mates and no one else. I'm sure they super good tho!
You don't sound too educated for a professor (quite funny, you claim detachment from Italian art when your pseudo is the name of an Italian character, in a novel written by an Englishman who lived in France and Italy :)
awesome vids
Personaly no job offerings after finishing studies.
I was denied my only shot at an Erasmus exchange by a English institution, right after the EU referendum.
I still need to pay a visit to said institution, so I can flip the middle finger to them, and carry on.
Diversity is our strength, which is why we must create a new national identity, so we're all the same. And ruled from a long way away by people nobody voted for. The European unions primarily purpose is financial embezzlement and jobs for ex-soviet bureaucrats and retired or failed senior politician's. This is why it has two parliaments, 10,000 employees who make more 100,000 euros each. European union employees have a different tax rate to everyone else (25%) and employees of the European central bank cannot be prosecuted for any crime (its in the constitution that most EU countries voted against.. But was made law by treaty).
This channel is gold