Abstract: In the context of increasing interest in a common European heritage or European lieux de mémoire, this paper will propose reflections on Europeanization of national lieux de mémoire, exemplified by the intergovernmental and Union “European Heritage Label” initiative. Furthermore, the proposed reflection will examine the process of the institutional invention of European heritage in the context of a gradual expansion of the European Union and of a strong need to forge on the Old Continent a new representation of the past. The paper will refer as well to the concept of heritage, its political use and perspectives in which the concept of political myth/mythology is applicable.

The article will examine the process, actors and context in which the Gdańsk Shipyards were/are used in the supranational context. The additional objective of this paper will be to focus on the change of meaning that this national site underwent while leaving the pure national context and reaching the European level. In other words the paper will try to answer the question of the nature of European semiotization / Europeanization of this national lieu de mémoire.

Key words: European heritage, Europeanization, mythology, lieux de mémoire, Gdańsk Shipyard, European Heritage Label

Introduction

The fall of the Communist Bloc and the gradual expansion of the European Union has meant that a strong need has been felt on the Old Continent to forge a new representation of the past. On the one hand, this has to take into account the heterogeneous, multinational and cosmopolitan aspects of Europe, but also – on the other hand – must attempt to secure its common and irreducible element. Heritage plays an excellent role in this regard. By appealing to national history, memory and lieux de mémoire, heritage is becoming a new tool for describing a common, European past.

Initiatives connected to the utilisation of the notion of heritage at the level of the European Union show its potential for building/reinforcing the European supranational community. One may say that today, at the start of the 21st century, the history experienced by the nations of Central Europe in the 1980s and 1990s has undergone a re-enchantment of the past and lieux de mémoire, in that they now possess an interpretive accent a l'européenne. This fascinating process is taking place within the European frame of reference.