The Diagram is contained in the chapter “The European Unification Process Since 1989”. A timeline along the upper margin of the chapter divides the unification process in the time segments 1989-1992, 1992-1995, 1995-2004 and 2004-… The diagram is located in a singled-out location of the fourth sub-chapter with the heading “European Identity Today.” This heading is supplemented by the central question: “How Can a European Sense of Belonging Emerge?” The Diagram is a part of the image and text materials, which accompany the author’s text. With the provided supplemental sub-title “National Identity and European Identity”, the predication of the author’s text is illustrated. The source is bound to the discussion section through a concrete question, which should motivate the students to independent reflection and collective discussion. Furthermore, the diagram offers the option to thematize questions of the interpretation of graphics and survey results during instruction. The content-related and graphic integration of the source, as well its placement, which is seen at first glance on the upper side, allots the diagram a singled-out prominence.

The displayed survey results of the diagram underline the conclusion of the author’s text, whereby the European sense of belonging, is climbing as an overall trend, even if not consistently. The application of European allegiance and European identity as synonyms is striking. In doing so, the authors cite European values, symbols and day to day realities as evidence. Yet despite all the positive depictions of the unification process, the textbook authors by no means deal with the topic uncritically or purely in the affirmative. They go into the central question of the self-conception of Europe in the same way as they go into the actuality that identities cannot simply be prescribed and that by implication, that important reference systems such as national ties cannot be ignored. The authors incorporate criticism of the present condition of the European Union through the keyword “democratic deficit”, which is nevertheless reversed constructively under the heading “Citizens’ Europe.”