There is a strong interest in debating the most urgent questions emerging in Europe today, questions around concepts such as "consensus", "solidarity", "integration" and "participation".

This book is the summary of papers presented at the workshop "From Ideas on Europe to the European Citizens: Why Europe?" at the German-Italian Center of European Excellence Villa Vigoni. The first part of this book examines what past generations expected of Europe, in particular which answers were given to the question "Why Europe?". The second part of the book addresses the concept of "European Citizenship", within the legal and political framework of the idea of "citizen" ("Bürger", "cittadino") in a European dimension. The third part consists of some critical analyses of the contemporary make up of European societies.