Professionalization or amateurism?

This article explores to which extent the involvement in European transnational projects has contributed to the professionalization of the intercultural occupation in the social area. Through the transnationality principle, the European Commission supports economically transnational communities of practice and joint projects managed by voluntary associations and for-profit groups and sub-national authorities based in different European Union (EU) member states. This article shows that in the absence of set of clear-cut standards, practices and routines in the social area, the EU has not contributed to the professionalization of the intercultural profession. The analysis of basic intercultural skills such as intercultural communication and intercultural awareness, shows that intercultural project management has been characterized by a certain amateurism, taking different forms depending on the national and local contexts. In this qualitative comparative study, empirical evidence is drawn from document analysis and in-depth semi-structured interviews with project managers involved in transnational cooperation in France and in the Netherlands.