Do people genuinely feel they are a 'European Citizen'? And why?

[mrsvilliers]

Genuinely interested and not having a dig at anybody. This has come up on my social media a lot recently and culminated today in DM informing me she had managed to dredge up an Irish relative from somewhere which meant she could apply for an Irish passport. When I asked her why she informed me she was a European citizen and want to remain one. Fair enough but I am genuinely baffled. I speak two European languages, have travelled, worked and lived extensively in Europe and would never refer to myself as a European citizen. European yes, in that I am not African or Asian or North/South American etc but not in reference to being a citizen. Honestly genuinely interested and can't ask on social media as would get flayed!!

I'm not British but from another European country and I feel
European yes.
That means that, fur me, going into any European countries try is like being at home. Think going from Scotland or NI to England. Same country, slightly different ways of doing things
I don't see other European countries tries as them and us
I can feel at home in any place in Europe and that's ok. (Whereas if I'm going to live in Australia, i know I'm an immigrant, I will probably not stay there forever)

And I agree you can feel European and British/German or Spanish.
My dcs both say they feel British and French. It's not incompatible.
I do t think they feel European and I think it's coming from the fact here Europe has never been seen as 'us together'

Even if you opt our of the EU you stay european. Geographically you are still in Europe.

I do feel European, yes. In hierarchical terms I am English, then British, then European. (Still think the EU is a 'wretched hive of scum and villainy' )

I done get it? European to me means that I'm from Europe!!! Which we still are! Europe is a continent defined geographically not by the Eu. the EU is a totally different thing, an economic one. Wierd.

No I don't feel European but my sister and parents do. They are always hoping across the channel for weekends and trips and they feel part of Europe and they feel European.
I tend to travel further afield (Australia, USA etc) so I feel British. I last went to another European country over 15 years ago so maybe its because I have so little to do with the rest of Europe? I shop in Aldi though so does that make me more European

I'm not British, I'm English, that and half something else.

It's not about being European as the race or the continent. Mira about feeling European as a member of that big entity that is the EU, just like you would be a member of that other big entity that is Britain.
It's about culture and shared history and more importantly shared future.
With Britain out of the EU, you will not automatically be a European citizen anymore (you dont have the citizenship anymore)

We might still be "European" but we won't necessarily have European passports and the right to live and work in Europe any more. So to me that means we won't be European

It's about culture and shared history and more importantly shared future.

But arguably you could say that about many countries outside the EU. A number of Commonwealth countries for example.

I'd be interested to know how many people who have taken or who plan to take on other countries' citizenships do so because they genuinely feel ties to that country/being European or do so because of security ie guarantee of being able to stay there.

No, never. Always been British or from England. Likewise I don't travel to 'Europe' I visit France, Spain, Greece etc.

I have been places and seen the EU flag, and felt a since of pride because its MY flag. I loathe that flag, and my blood pressure rises every time I see the damn thing. It's not my flag.

But even in the eu you are a British citizen not a European citizen by status? I've never heard anyone describe themselves as European citizen - I think this is something the remain camp has run with - never heard anyone refer to themselves in this was til last week.

Yes. Because I've lived in 3 EU countries and speak 3 European languages. And because I believe in the original EU objectives of peace stabilty, cooperation between nations etc. And because despite being born and raised in Great Britain - to British passport holding parents, one of whom was also born in Great Britain - my brown skin often.caused people to ask me - yes, but where are you really from when I said I came from London. Including my teachers. When I present myself as a European citizen - no one ever questions me about it. So lots of reasons.

I don't think identity is simple though, I thinkits multilayered and feeling like a European citizen does not exclude feeling like a citizen of a nation.

No, I can't say that I've ever felt any connection to Europe. I feel more of a connection to the USA.

I do. I have lived and worked in several European countries and travelled to a large amount of the others. . My daughter speaks 3 languages and I can have a stab at about 6. I AM European vs being a little Englander.

I'm a European citizen and I'm heartbroken that my three kids will grow up not having the rights and opportunities this has always afforded me. :(

jamie chances are as a mother of a citizen of my host country I will be able to stay anyway without taking citizenship so it is probably more about a question of identity leading me to apply for citizenship. Although goodness knows what I will need to do regarding practicalities being a UK tax payer as my business is UK based. I love being an EU citizen as I explained above. I don't want to lose that. I feel it in my core in the same way as I feel British. The ties I feel are genuine, tangible and emotional.

I feel European and that Britain is a European country. Reasons include: speaking three European languages; having studied and worked in Europe for years on and off in several different jobs; having European friends; holidaying there throughout childhood and adulthood, so it's fixed in my memory as part of growing up; doing French exchanges for years, so many significant teenage events happened in France not England; knowing certain parts of Europe as well as I know my own country; having so many cultural references (food, films, books) that are European that I don't even notice they're not British (same isn't true of US culture - love lots of it but am always aware it's US and different in a way that doesn't feel like I'm part of it); working on the campaign tour to encourage people to use their vote in Europe.

I've never felt European in the least. I am British.

Agree notagiraffe re what you say about US culture. My close friends in my host country are mainly from that country but also include some from other EU countries and a few Americans. I love them all dearly but there have been many occasions when I have felt that I have more in common in various areas with my fellow EU friends than with my American ones. Not saying I prefer one to the other but just that I feel more similar to the EU friends despite sharing a common mother tongue language with my American friends.

I was born in Germany of English parents and lived most of my life in the uk. I am a UK citizen and I have never thought of myself as German. Now I am questioning what I am

beenthere Again, that's what irritates people about Remain. no-one would have a pop at a French person for putting La Republique and their French nationality ahead of being European, but it is fine for you to sneer at those of us who, despite living in mainland Europe and speaking three languages, feel English/British before feeling European.

Like others, I feel I have more in common with those who come from the Anglosphere in terms of culture/outlook/philosophy than I do the Europeans.

scaryteacher maybe I haven't read the thread closely enough, but where is the animosity to being "British" on this thread? The only aggression has come from - you - with your weird post about the european flag having an effect on your blood pressure (if that's true, you need help).

National identity is a strange thing and what it attaches to isn't always simple. Perhaps British people, especially those abroad, are less attached to "Britishness" because they are simultaneously also English, Welsh or Scottish. Our country isn't even called Britain, it's the United Kingdom , because NI isn't part of Britain - do Northern Irish people consider themselves "British"?