Conclusion: European Integration and the Elusive European Dream

Abstract

Sociologists have long pondered the emergence of a European society, overriding if not replacing a Europe of kindred and relatednational societies. This handbook adds a great amount of knowledge to the issue, while providing well-grounded arguments forfurther debate. The European Union partly based on and following historical patterns has greatly facilitated growing interdependenciesand interactions between Europeans and European societies. Yet social integration does not simply follow structural integration.From the history of European nation-building we know that it is not necessarily just a question of time and time lag. Thisdivergence subverts institution building efforts at the European level.