What do you think a 'United States of Europe' would look like?

I'm certainly no supporter of further EU integration though the idea of an EU superstate is an interesting one to think about. In some ways being part of an integrated federal EU as if it were a nation state would be beneficial as it could become the world's dominant power and balance the interests of the USA and China.

However it seems to me that achieving this is impossible without having to sacrifice each European nation's culture, identity and language. The USA and China only work because each state/province shares the national interests, culture and language. I'm studying in China right now and though linguistically and culturally China is very diverse; whether it be the different ethnic minorities such as Tibetans, Xinjiang Uyghurs, Manchu people etc. Or the different Han languages and cultures I.e Cantonese, Shanghainese ect. Local languages and culture are being eroded in favour of further integration between provinces.

There's a video on YouTube called "Hidden treasures of Europe" (Sorry can't figure out how to link videos on a tablet) by the European commission which shows images of beautiful European locations and says "France? No it's Serbia", for example . This to me shows that the European commission's intention is to make all of Europe the same. I personally find such a thing horrifying, I want France to be France, Serbia to be Serbia etc. I appreciate the diversity in Europe and I believe that EU integration is a threat to that.

Because EU member states are so different from one another, how could further integration with the EU not result in the loss of local languages and culture. What language would a federal Europe be speaking for example?

So ask yourself the question, are you willing to sacrifice your nationality and your nation's sovereignty in order to become part of a 'European nation state' to gain more geopolitical power and political influence?

Or is it better for us and other European nations to retain their identity and sovereignty in a trading union without interference from a central governing body and do you think it is possible for the UK to retain this kind of relationship with the EU if other countries are pushing for further integration?

Discuss

A federal Europe would contain between 10-20 states (others like the UK would leave), it would have the second largest navy and air force in the world, it should if its smart speak English and Spanish and would be overall a secular state.

Not being a cultural conservative I actually support the existence of a European federation, I'm just not sure the UK should be in it.

They are countries. The EU isn't, and can never be one.

How the devil do you deduce from that Youtube video that the Commission wants to 'make all of Europe the same'?

Why is it either/or? We can integrate to a point to meet our interests and then hold our own elsewhere. National identities are considerably more robust than you give them credit for, and no amount of integration is going to suppress national identity unless by genuinely democratic means. The fact that Scotland remains quite nationalistic and is now actively considering leaving the UK shows how strong national identities are.

I think the problem here is that you equating a federal union on a European level with the destruction/weakening of national identities, cultures and languages and their replacement with a "European" identity. Identity is fluid and can exist on many different levels and a federal Europe, whether or not one agrees with it politically, is no more likely to erode those national identities than the United Kingdom managed to erode Scottish/Irish/Welsh identity in the 300/500/700 years of union. Strong regional identities remain in federal countries, including those who are most in favour of a federalised Europe. Just ask a Provencal if he's the same as a Parisian, a Lombard if he's the same as a Sicilian or a Bavarian if she's the same as an Ost-y (East German).

So if we do get a ferderalised United States of Europe, then it would make things like tax rates, currency, budgets, education systems etc. more standard across the continent, and would probably continue (as it always has) to work in English, French and German. Other than that I see very little that would change in terms of national identity/culture etc.

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I agree that on some level there will always be cultural differences between the member states but seeing as each member state is so different from one another (as compared to US states or Chinese Provinces) I still believe however that some degree of the dumbing down of nationalities has to be pursued to ensure the effectiveness of federal EU. Why then would a poor German want a portion of his money through taxes given to a poor Spaniard for example. In the UK I don't believe we would complain as much for tax money collected in the south going up towards the north.

Immigration which is of course unlimited in the European union can have a large effect on local culture. If you gave the western provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet a Democratic referendum on whether to leave China (obviously they won't get one) they would most likely vote to stay in as the population of Han Chinese in these areas is over 60% nowadays. Quebec in Canada was made easier to emigrate to than other parts of Canada by the Canadian government in order to manipulate the makeup of the voting population in an attempt to reduce the support for Quebec independence. Similarly the Soviet Union moved large amounts of ethnic Russians into other Soviet republics such as the Baltic countries, where after the incidents in the Ukraine countries such as Latvia are concerned about what effect the large population of ethnic Russians living in the east of the country will have on their nation's sovereignty.

In short --- HELL!

A federal Europe would contain between 10-20 states (others like the UK would leave), it would have the second largest navy and air force in the world, it should if its smart speak English and Spanish and would be overall a secular state.

Not being a cultural conservative I actually support the existence of a European federation, I'm just not sure the UK should be in it.

English and Spanish ain't gonna **** well with the Germans and French.

I can see Angela giving it 'hola, que tal?'.....

Whatever a "United States of Europe" would look like, the UK absolutely should not be a part of it. And given how diverse in culture and language Europe is, a USE would be difficult to create and there would probably be considerable opposition to it.