After an introduction to the main arguments of the book, the text is divided into two main parts. The first portrays the cultural process of European identity-building at supranational level in a chronological manner (e.g. the EU-flag, statistics, European passports and citizenship, and the euro, etc.). The second part is dedicated to the interaction processes among the EU civil servants, their attitude towards the building of a supranational and intercultural elite and, moreover, transforming their ‘practised’ Brussels culture into official cultural politics of the EU. These elite processes, Shore argues, are accompanied by efforts to build a European identity among the European citizens, which should endow the EU’s institutions and emerging system of transnational governance with legitimacy. But, the author contends, corruption as well as a lack of democracy and accountability are to be found within the Commission’s cultural politics. What they try to construct in Brussels, as Shore criticizes, is a top-down European identity to create a single Europe, and a legitimized single European market.

This strong critique is drawn up by using ethnographic fieldwork. For the reader it remains open which parts in the process of constructing a European culture is based on Shore’s own cognitive map or those of the EU elites. Therefore, it is difficult to judge the findings of the book. However, the text opens up an original and extraordinary access to the understanding of the cultural politics of European integration and deserves to be read.