Dr. iur., Dr. h.c. rer.publ. Gret Haller (*1947) is a visiting scientist at the University of Konstanz. From 2006 until 2011 she worked at the University of Frankfurt/Main as assistant lecturer and was an associate member of the local cluster of excellence "Herausbildung normativer Ordnungen" ("The Development of Normative Orders", freely translated by the translator of this website). She has practical experience in politics and diplomatics: she was president of the Swiss parliament (1993/94), ambassador for Switzerland at the Council of Europe (1994-96) as well as ombudswoman for human rights of the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina (elected by the OSZE) with registered office in Sarajevo (1996-2000). Since then, she works as a publicist.
European Republicanism
Republicanism stands for an enlightened organization of the community. It frees people from their ties to past and origin and makes them to individualized citizens orientating themselves towards mutual exchange in the present and the future. Since the French revolution, republicanism is implemented in the individual national states. Correspondant ideas find their way into the European Union as well, even though in different form than on the national level.
The National State
The model of the national state was developed in Europe and extended worldwide, in part into already existing territorial states, in part by creating new states mostly through colonization. That way, the sovereign national state became the only model of state worldwide and gradually replaced the preexisting multiethnic empires. Therefrom also the slightly confusing terminology can be explained, which led to the use of "national" in the form of "a single state", which is commonly used as an antonym to "international", "transnational", "multinational", or "supranational".
The model of the "national state" already disassociated itself from the republican idea long ago, which was significantly involved in its creation. Meanwhile in the second half of the 20th century in the context of todays European Union, the integration of the national states into a new form of superordinate multilateral statehood began. This development posed new challenges to the republicanism as well as new chances.
Republicanism and Identity
Identity stands for the security among one's own kind. Today, identity manifests itself in a return to romantically understood cultural origin as well. This is not a new development: Since the beginning of enlightenment several centuries ago, manifestions of romanticism cae up as a counterpart. In Europe, the spreading of enlightened ideas through the Napoleonic wars of conquest made for a strong countermovement of national identity, which developed to nationalism in the process and ultimately led to two world wars.
The cold war led to the rise of two development lines in handling national identity in Europe, which have a much deeper impact today than what could be foreseen right after the fall of the wall. In some Middle Eastern European states, after the sociorealistically decreed internationalism one can observe some kind of backlog demand regarding national identity, which can also tapers nationalistically. The relationship with xenophobic- and EU-phobic tendencies also in western European countries poses an additional challenge to the European Republicanism.
The specifically European of the Republicanism
Within the European Union, national states are embedded into a supranational structure by legal bounds, whereupon their own statehood (which by all means can also be understood as "national") is left to them. Here a new form of "statehood" arises, in which multilateralism also plays a role within internal relations. The search for identity thus extends from the national to the european level.
If this search, however, is oriented on the traditional narratives of national identity, it is often ignored that identity can also, led by romanticized transfiguration, oppose the enlightened tradition of republicanism on a national level. Especially set aside is the fact that only in the French revolution republic and nation were combined, republic being emanated from enlightenment and nation being emanated from romanticism. European identity has to fall back onto other resources.
The Republican "Remaining Foreign"
In the tradition of republicanism, the state institutions are possessing a hinged function. Under the sign of republican tradition, the citizens bear the responsibility for these institutions, and they do so in exchange with other citizens, which may definitely remain "foreign" to them origin-wise. Under the sign of identity - as it is mostly manifesting in the form of "national identity" - common responsibility on the other hand is in general actually only possible among culturally "equals", so that foreignness can become a criterion for exclusion.
With the expansion of the question of identity towards the european level, the traditionally republican "remaining foreign" is granted a certain role relating to both levels. One the one hand, it enables the joint perception of republican responsibility for the "national" as well as for those institutions gaining influence within the newly developing european statehood. On the other hand and in addition, it forms the basis for the openness towards migrants. Both are promoting social solidarity.
The consideration of the republican "remaining foreign" could be helpful for the identity on a multinational level. Thus in the sense of a working hypothesis, the question unfolds whether republicanism can also be a home, and under which circumstances.