The various EU member states have gone through different processes of state formation, nation-building and democratisation, and, as a result, they have developed different forms of national identity The article answers the question of what creates the national and European identities of political and economic elites in the old and new EU member states, and what is the relationship between sub-national, national and European identity. The study is based on empirical research, conducted in 2007 in 19 countries with identical sample construction. The results lead to the conclusion that a longer experience with European integration influences the feeling of belonging to Europe and identification with Europe in a positive way, albeit with certain differences.
