European social integration: From convergence of countries to transnational relations between peoples

European countries are becoming increasingly politically integrated and the process of integration has accelerated in recent years. But how much social integration is there within the Community? This article supplies a definition of European social integration, and thereby lays down the foundations necessary for answering this important sociological question. Instead of analysing the EU as a political system, I view the EU as a social space of non-state actors of different nationality, and concentrate on the intergroup relations between the national collectivities involved in the amalgamation process. I define social integration as being transnational and macro-social; my definition has a quantitative dimension (relating to mutual relevance) as well as a qualitative dimension (relating to cohesion). I will argue that this definition is more useful than the European Commissions approach, which equates social integration with the convergence of living and working conditions, and also more useful than the social policy approach, which equates social integration with the convergence of regulations and social policies.