Falling in love with(in) Europe: European bi-national love relationships, European identification and transnational solidarity

TY - JOUR

T1 - Falling in love with(in) Europe: European bi-national love relationships, European identification and transnational solidarity

AU - Van Mol, C.

AU - de Valk, H.A.G.

AU - van Wissen, L.J.G.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Love is often a key factor in migration decisions. Partner relationships and unionformation have also been identified as forming an intrinsic part of intra-European migration. Nevertheless, empirical research into intra-European love migration remains rather scarce. In this paper, we focus on the often neglected but substantial intra-European moves. We analyse the relationship between bi-national couple formation, identification as a European and European transnational solidarity. The analyses are based on the EUMARR survey, investigating bi-national marriages in a unified Europe, comparing European bi-national and uni-national couples. In this paper, we focus on the Netherlands (n¼898) and compare Dutch–Dutch with Dutch–EU couples. Our findings indicate that bi-national couples are more likely to identify as European compared to uni-national couples, but this is not reflected in more solidarity to European countries in times of crisis. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of the European integration process.

AB - Love is often a key factor in migration decisions. Partner relationships and unionformation have also been identified as forming an intrinsic part of intra-European migration. Nevertheless, empirical research into intra-European love migration remains rather scarce. In this paper, we focus on the often neglected but substantial intra-European moves. We analyse the relationship between bi-national couple formation, identification as a European and European transnational solidarity. The analyses are based on the EUMARR survey, investigating bi-national marriages in a unified Europe, comparing European bi-national and uni-national couples. In this paper, we focus on the Netherlands (n¼898) and compare Dutch–Dutch with Dutch–EU couples. Our findings indicate that bi-national couples are more likely to identify as European compared to uni-national couples, but this is not reflected in more solidarity to European countries in times of crisis. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of the European integration process.

KW - SSCI

KW - bi-naitonal love relationship

KW - European identity

KW - interethnic marriage

KW - the Netherlands

KW - transnational solidarity

U2 - 10.1177/1465116515588621

DO - 10.1177/1465116515588621

M3 - Article

SN - 1465-1165

VL - 16

SP - 469

EP - 489

JO - European Union Politics

JF - European Union Politics

IS - 4

ER -