COMPLEX IDENTITY IN AUTONOMOUS REGIONS IN EUROPE

Abstract. Language is the basis for the identity. This study examines territorial conflicts in several member states of the European Union. The main cases are South Tyrol, the Aland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Greenland.

The conflicts over the Aland Islands and South Tyrol had gone through their peaks before the creation of the European Union, but they influenced the favorable attitude of Italy, Austria, Sweden and Finland towards European integration. These two conflicts can be considered conflicts that perform the function of a strategic link between the two pairs of neighboring states and affect their overall course in relation to European politics. In South Tyrol and the Aland Islands the importance of regional identity and mutual linguistic community with the neighboring state is of higher importance than the identity with their own states. This is another reason for a more distinctive manifestation of the European supranational identity, as well as the local identity in these regions compared to other regions of the country.

The Danish cases – the Faroe Islands and Greenland – provide us with completely different results. Regional identity and linguistic affiliation here do not have any reference to other states, they are directed inward and have the autochthonous character. The European identity level here is lower than the average in Denmark. This explains the refusal of these regions of the formal process of participation in European integration and is the basis for the phenomenon of the “special territories in the EU”.

The example not covered in this text confirms the hypothesis. For the constituent parts of the United Kingdom – Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland – Celtic language is one of the main factors of regional identity besides religion and a long period of independence. As the results of Brexit referendum and numerous opinion polls show, the level of European identity in these parts of the United Kingdom is higher than in England, which can be considered the central part of Great Britain.

The strategic link here is the Republic of Ireland, which individually “represents” the Celtic languages and Celtic identity in the EU. The regional policy and the policy in the spheres of education and culture in the European Union reinforce the indicated trends.

Keywords: EU, Integration, identity, South Tyrol, Aland Islands, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Finland, Italy, Denmark