From adamant Eurosceptics to Europhiles: Impact of the Euro on European Identity of 3 Baltic States

Abstract

The studies regarding the euro have paid its attention to primarily economic aspects but some researchers have examined its relationship with the identity. Since its introduction in 2002, the single currency has been not merely the currency of the EU but most importantly, as Risse mentioned, it has also played its role as the most important identity markers in peoples daily lives (Risse, 2002) and engendered the entitativity or realness of the EU. So, the euro-area has been acknowledged as more Europe or full-fledged member state, which implies that their European identity would be enforced due to the use of single currency at least more than non-euro members. However, according to Flash Eurobarometer from 2002 to 2016, largely 70~80% of people of euro-area has answered that the euro has nothing to do with their feeling of being European, which shockingly contradicts the previous researches and the intentions of European elite behind creating the single currency. Then, is the relationship of the euro and European identity merely theoretical or rhetorical? Examining the case of 3 Baltic states through their transition of answers to Eurobarometer, this paper concludes that the euro can affect ones European identity only to the extent of the civic identity emanated from the satisfaction of their demands to the currency. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who adopted the euro even after the Eurozone crisis in 2010, had strong motivation and clear demands from the introduction of single currency which was enough to overcome grim prospects of the Eurozone at the moment. Fulfilling their hopes, the euro has significantly affected European civic identity of 3 Baltic states, who were adamant Eurosceptics in early 2000s.