The paper discusses preliminary results of the project that analyses a variety of actors involved in the process of European identity construction in Italy and of a variety of European identity frames they offer to the Italian general public. Taking into consideration the results and both methodological and conceptual findings of Europub.com and INTUNE projects, this analysis offers a different perspective on relationship between Italians and Europe. It departs from the assumption that creation of a feeling of common belonging to Europe can be regarded a top-down and manageable process. This implies that common identity construction is presumably guided by individuals, groups, organizations or institutions who strive to take a role of ‘opinion leaders’ capable of influencing others. It doesn’t necessarily mean, though, that this process is centralized or vertically structured. On the contrary, these ‘influencers’ tend to build up multivariate and multicomponent networks. The study is based upon a modified version of political claims analysis which was previously applied in research of social movements and civil society organizations in the context of Europeanization(s). Instead of using a distinction between a ‘claimant’, an ‘object actor’ and an ‘addressee’ it introduces a new actors’ typology on the basis of their functional differentiation. Those of them who provide financial support (as donors), disseminate information, organize events (as mediators) or make statement on their preferred model of ‘true Europeanness’ and its elements (as claimants) are equally engaged in European identity construction process within different networks proposing/promoting different models of European identity. The analysis relies on manually coded data retrieved from Italian online media and other online resources.
