Europe has not always been there. Both the name and the object are relatively recent in history. Although the origins of the name can be traced back to 700 BC, the appellation “Europe” came into its contemporary usage only after 1700 CE (Burke 1980). Its existence as a specifically political object is even more recent. Only in the second half of the twentieth century, with the first steps toward European integration, have the contours of a political community with this name emerged.

Furthermore, during the past sixty years of European construction, the borders of this entity have varied so much (from the first six founding members to the current twenty-seven members) that the geographical meaning of such a political object has fundamentally changed. Perhaps the most significant change lies in the fact that, whereas the old European Community was merely a Western European project, the current European Union (EU) has both an Eastern and a Western soul. One could also argue that the “old continent” is an ensemble of two halves, north and south. This poses a further challenge to attempts to answer any simple question, such as “What is Europe?”