Education as a supranational identity construction factor in the European Union

Nowadays, there is an increasing emphasis on the concept of identity as it embraces a broad notion of international policies and practices. For the European Union, identity becomes one of the key categories for dealing with its bases and the relationships among its member states. The author tries to reveal what unites Europe and how it works. Education is regarded as a factor in constructing the supranational European identity or the European idea. Despite the difficulties that European institutions face, education becomes a successful unifying force because of the umbrella approach that has been actively developing over the past 30 years. The author concludes that the EU’s education policy, Erasmus+ in particular, has a positive influence on the European community and heightens a sense of belonging as it seeks to support cooperation in the field of education, vocational training, sports, youth issues. This fact leads to the increase in relevant budget and resources as well as the number of participants in the student exchange programme.