Their identity is not based on the past, but on their commitment to a common project for the future. They are members of a yet-to-become Europe: the Europe of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. They consider the EU as a peace project, but they look beyond the borders of Brussels’ Europe. They seek a Europe where nobody is “more European” than the others; a democratic Europe where everyone has the same status, the same rights, the same opportunities.
Their Europe is yet to come: the “Europe of minorities”, the only one capable of restarting the EU project, leaving behind Westphalian states and granting sovereignty to the local communities and the supranational institutions.
Since its foundation in 2000, OBC paid growing attention to this idea of Europe. On our tenth anniversary, we again want to inquire into this vision of the “Old Continent”, analyse it and report to our readers. This year, we will travel in the collective mind of the Europeans, in an attempt to contribute to overcoming the fears that increasingly affect our societies. Or, at least, to try to understand them better.
