In search of the elusive European soul
By Ian Buruma 

Published: April 2 2007 03:00 | Last updated: April 2 2007 03:00

The European Union was a baby conceived by many fathers, including the very American George Marshall, whose famous plan abolished trade barriers and fostered economic co-operation between European nations.

A union of 27 nations was not even a dream 50 years ago, when six countries formed the European Economic Community.

Now that we have a union, nobody appears to love it very much. The French and the Dutch, in a fit of pique, voted against an EU constitution that few people bothered to read. Who can blame them? It was unreadable.

"We must give a soul to Europe," said Angela Merkel, German chancellor, whose country currently presides over the EU. Speaking at a recent conference entitled A Soul for Europe, the German filmmaker Wim Wenders struck a similar note. He fretted about a spiritual vacuum where the heart of Europe should be.

Not surprisingly for a man in his line of business, he believes that the spirit is made of celluloid and the European soul is found in movies by Pedro Almodovar, Federico Fellini and Andrzej Wajda. Alas, however, to use a phrase from one of Mr Wenders' films: -"America has colonised our soul". Europeans are hopelessly addicted to Hollywood.

It is a Romantic notion, of course, this idea of a national or continental soul. For 19th-century German patriots it meant a national spirit, expressed in poetry and philosophy, which challenged French rationalism. For conservatives between the two world wars, and to many Europeans of Mr Wenders' generation, it means liberation from American materialism.

The US is all about money, while Europe, according to Mr Wenders, "is not only about markets, it is also about values and culture".

More than that, he thinks of Europe as something "holy". In Mr Wenders' view, to find an alternative to the American dream, Europeans, especially those who are filmmakers, should create a sacred European dream.

Ms Merkel is more down to earth. She spoke of a "Europe of the projects", citing "proper power networks" and "proper gas pipelines", such as theBaltic Sea pipeline being built from Russia to Germany. These are important projects, but unlikely to warm many hearts or stir many souls. She hailed the Galileo project, but a satellite is not a soul.

The problem with soul is that it is too vague to be of much use. It is true that certain national figures, such as television comedians or soccer stars or newsreaders, can foster a sense of community. It is also true that Fellini's movies express something we all recognise as an Italian sensibility.

But Mr Wenders is right: what most Europeans have in common is a love not of European art films but of American pulp. American popular culture is not successful only because of bigger budgets but because it has a long history of overcoming cultural differences. Like American fast food, it appeals to instincts - and not always the most elevated ones - that we all share.

I am not sure that European artists should aspire to that. In the US everything tends towards homogeneity. Is it not better to celebrate European diversity? What would Fellini be without Italy, or Almodovar without Spain?

To a religious person the soul is more tangible. The late Pope John Paul II wanted the Christian faith to be mentioned in the European constitution. The Hungarian primate, Monsignor Peter Erdoe, stated that "without Christianity the heart of Europe would be missing". Poland's government takes the same line.

Judaeo-Christianity, with the cultures of Greece and Rome, is part of a common European history. But now that most Europeans pride themselves on being secular and many religious Europeans are either Muslims or immigrants from former European colonies, a religious definition of the European soul would be dishonest and wrong.

Then again, secular Europeans who would never set foot in a church or synagogue often oppose the membership of Turkey in the EU, not just because of problems with human rights but because it is not Christian.

Few people say this openly, of course, for fear of looking prejudiced. They prefer to talk of the Enlightenment as the thing that holds Europe together. But the claim that "Enlightenment values" define the soul of Europe would be rather odd, for values of free speech and scientific inquiryare shared by people all over the world. We do not admire the Enlightenment for reasons of national spirit, but on the contrary for its universal worth.

So perhaps Europe's 50th birthday should be an occasion to halt the hyperbole. European co-operation began as a practical economic project, not a spiritual one. That is as it should be. The Enlightenment has taught us that enlightened self-interest oftenproduces the highest value.

The most inspiring thing about the EU is the mobility of its citizens, the way Europeans can live and work anywhere they want in Europe. Let there be more Polish builders in Paris, British designers in Berlin, French entrepreneurs in London.

One of the great ironies of thepast few decades is the way that London, the capital of a nation that rejected so many European dreams, has become the great European metropolis. People are coming from all over Europe because London offers them freedom to pursue their dreams. These are frequently materialistic and sometimes even base, but altogether they make up something that, for want of a better word, might be called a European soul.