European Transnational Projects: A Europeanizing Experience?

For over twenty years, the European Commission has been promoting the implementation of European transnational projects in several domains. This paper analyzes the effects of transnational projects dealing with employment and training opportunities on the perception of the European “Other.” Drawing on literature on Europeanization, we show that provided certain conditions are met, the promotion of regular exchanges through transnational projects has a significant impact. However, the same kind of European pressures do not necessarily lead to a single way of perceiving the European “Other.” This Europeanizing experience can thus lead to several results, and we present three possible scenarios: a multicultural identity, a European identity, and a post-national identity.