Originally Posted by Ethos83 (Post 9350633)

Britain is in Europe but not of Europe.

If pressed back into a corner I'd have to admit that yes, the British are Europeans, but it would be like confessing to a dirty little truth better kept in secrecy. The odd thing is that like most Brits I admire and value the immense cultural heritage of the continent, but at the same time I don't consider myself European at all.

The thinking is wholly the British versus the Europeans. Island mentality and our geography also allowed for the evolution of a quite distinct history and even culture.

The Scottish devolution movement could make for some very interesting times - as Britain is forced to openly discuss what it means to be British versus English/Scottish/Welsh - which could make us even more aware of our keen distinctness from the continent.

(By the way, I don't think devolution will actually happen. It'll come close as the Bloc Quebecois did in Canada in the mid-1990s, but they'll never quite succeed).

Originally Posted by weasel central (Post 9350667)

Why do you think its a loss of Britishness to be European? Old history and culture is that..history. Being European is just a wider category above nation status and wont change what history or culture existed from before.
Its not like we will be seeing roadsigns in German in the UK anytime soon.

Unless being British comes down to very simple things like having the Queen's head on your coins?
I just find the attitude curious that to be European detracts from being British somehow.

Originally Posted by norsk (Post 9350538)

Anyway what do I know? I am foreigner talking out of turn...:rofl:

Originally Posted by Hello.Kitty (Post 9350695)

I find it highly ironic since many Brits have very little idea of how European the UK population actually is. The Angles and Britons have long since been intermingled with Norse, Saxons, Franks, Celts (er, who else?! Join the queue!) and our whole country has been shaped for the last 1000 years by our tit-for-tat dealings with France... they invaded us (imposed their nobility on us, changed our language and some customs - Dover Castle = French... Tower of London = haha French!) and then we took over 1/3 of France... in fact, Richard the Lionheart, King of England, apparently spent most of his life in France (who wouldn't?!) and spoke very little English.

I love "state you ethnic origin" forms for this exact reason.

Originally Posted by Meow (Post 9350630)

But the question is about feeling European or part of Europe, not are you European geographically or politically.

Originally Posted by Meow (Post 9350462)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13321460 It's Europe Day tomorow...

This article got me thinking. As a Brit do you consider yourself to be fully part of Europe? Or is it still a case of 'fog in channel, continent cut off' ?

Originally Posted by weescot (Post 9350550)

Sweetie - the question is asked on the back of a press report posted about the EU - I read the article first before posting my reply...

Originally Posted by Paracletus (Post 9350704)

Out of interest, do you feel decidely Norwegian or European? I always found that the Danes were quite European in mentality versus the Norwegians and Swedes having a more coherent Scandinavian identity. A Scandinavian super state could be interesting.

Originally Posted by norsk (Post 9351023)

I haven't been called sweetie for years..feels kind of like I've just been told off by my gran :D (by the way I have no idea how old you are and mean no disrespect)

anyway i read the article as well, but interpreted the question as more general..

Originally Posted by norsk (Post 9351023)

I haven't been called sweetie for years..feels kind of like I've just been told off by my gran :D (by the way I have no idea how old you are and mean no disrespect)

anyway i read the article as well, but interpreted the question as more general..

Originally Posted by norsk (Post 9351037)

I am Norwegian, Scandinavian, and then European. Scandinavians are proud of their Norse heritage and tend to have more in common with each other than people further down on the continent (except for England of course where I saw research some years ago that up to 30% of people in the East and North-East are of Norwegian and Danish heritage).

The Danes tend to be more European due to their geographical location.

Originally Posted by weescot (Post 9351061)

Err - some posters might remind you about the Viking invasion ;) You also will find quite a few Scots that have some Norwegian ancestry.

Originally Posted by shiftdelete (Post 9351046)

:rofl: don't be daft mate, its the ultimate put (or should that be pat)-down- its even worse than a 'girl' calling you cute.