The legitimacy of the EU depends partly on the existence of a European identity, but such an identity remains confined to a minority of the European population. According to the theory of Karl Deutsch, cross-border people mobility could lead to an international identity. Similarly, the psychologist Gordon Allport maintained that personal contact can improve inter-group relations. The thesis tests empirically the potential of people mobility within the European Union to foster a European identity and EU support. It focuses on the ERASMUS student mobility, because compared to other forms of mobility it is more likely to deliver a positive outcome, it is funded by the EU, it moves more than 150,000 European students annually and because ERASMUS was founded specifically to disseminate a European identity.