The Impact of Erasmus + Programme on the Construction of European identity

At the present time of rapid change, social constructs are changing swiftly as well. This fact encourages researchers to analyze such constructs and the influence of various factors on them. This thesis examines one such construct - European identity, which is one of the key ingredients for successful European integration. The choice to study the impact of the 2014-2020 Erasmus+ educational program determines the relevance of the work, as well as a new unexplored world political phenomenon - the Covid-19 pandemic, which has a strong impact on the functioning of the program and the construction of European identity. The purpose of the dissertation was to determine the presence and factors of influence of Erasmus+ on the construction of European identity. To achieve this purpose, the following tasks were carried out: to identify the theoretical categories and phenomena that are fundamental for the work, to analyze Erasmus+ from the point of view of a bottom-up construction of European identity and to analyze the public opinion of the program participants. These tasks were accomplished by using participatory observation methods, analysis of theoretical currents and work documents, online survey of participants, and machine learning methods for analyzing survey data. After solving all the tasks of the study, we achieved its goal and concluded that the Erasmus+ program has a positive effect on the construction of European identity, which means that the majority of Europeans participating in the program feel the strengthening of their European identity. This is influenced by positive factors, for example, the strengthening of the cross-border socialization of students by the program through their use of the material aspects of identity. However, there are factors limiting this impact, such as measures to combat Covid-19, which impair the socialization of participants and their overall experience of the program.