European Integration and National Identity: The Challenge of the Nordic States. . - Reviews - book review

Contemporary Review, June, 2002

European Integration and National Identity: The Challenge of the Nordic States. Lene Hansen and Ole Waever, editors. Routledge. [pounds sterling]18.99 p.b. 232 pages. ISBN 0-415-26184-8. The Nordic nations -- Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway -- have proved themselves difficult problems for Brussels' European planners, especially Denmark.

The Danes' 'no' vote against the Maasticht Treaty was only overcome when Brussels forced the Danish government to hold a second referendum which it barely won. The six essays in this book are, therefore, timely. It is 'most easily read as a set of theoretically coherent and historically informed essays about EU politics' in the four countries. After an introduction by Lene Hansen, there is a chapter by the second editor on the complicated relationship between national identity and foreign policy. This is followed by essays devoted to each of the four countries and, to sum up, a conclusion by Lene Hansen in which she accepts that the four countries' Nordic legacy still rema ins a force in the never-ending 'euro debate'.