Perceptions of the EU and Democratic Values

The European Union (EU) with its 27 Member States and 3 official candidate states is an important example of a region with a culturally diverse population. The existence of culturally distinct and different groups prompted the EU with its wealth of different languages and complex historical roots, to pay attention to the concepts of multiculturalism and multicultural society (Ireland, 2004; Vertovec and Wessendorf, 2004; Pennix and Spencer, 2008). Multiculturalism itself has become the central discussion of a political-ideological debate. In this debate, multiculturalism has been identified as a failed public policy since minorities remain outsiders and that they did not participate in the social and political life of the EU countries (Vertovec and Wessendorf, 2004). © 2011 VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften | Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH. All rights reserved.