Stephen Green

Is there any such thing as a European identity?

What, if anything, do 28 members of the European Union have in common?

We know we are different from Asia; and we are more different from America than we, perhaps especially the British, think. So in a 21st century of globalisation and emerging great powers, Europe must discover and define that common identity.

Europe clearly has something distinctive and vitally important to offer: it is the experience of a unique journey through centuries of exploration and conflict, errors and learnings, soul-searching and rebuilding. It is an experience of universal significance.

Stephen Green was an international banker and Minister for Trade and Investment between 2011-13. He chairs the Natural History Museum, is an ordained priest of the Church of England and sits as a Conservative peer in the House of Lords.