Reclaiming Constituent Power? Pro-European Activism as a Practice of European Citizenship

In its current state the European Union provokes much negative political reaction among its citizens, with populist activism challenging more broadly than ever before its policies and integration process. At the same time, interest in, and attention to, European issues have increased during the crises and have even moved to the centre of some national election campaigns. In the course of these events not only anti- but also pro-European social movements have emerged. With the common aim of countering Euroscepticism, these movements are expressing their concern about a potential disintegration of the EU, and call upon political actors to urgently address necessary reforms for the future. From the perspective of democratic theory the article asks to what extent a shared perception of crisis could be a precondition for a democratic re-founding, for initiating a “new beginning” – the essence of politics in Hannah Arendt’s sense. It is argued that the increasing number of pro-European movements are practicing EU citizenship in a political sense while trying to mobilise and address a European public. They are aiming, and potentially contributing, to reversing the state-centred logic that has shaped European integration so far. We develop this argument on the basis of an analysis of pro-European activism in Germany, embodied by social movements such as Pulse of Europe. By means of semi-structured interviews with activists, we map these movements’ aims, strategies and transformations. The conclusion evaluates the potentials and limits of this form of civic activism with regard to its effect on public discourse and political reform.