The European Union has faced many crises, such as populism, xenophobia, economic and political challenges, to name a few. This has resulted in some questioning whether the EU will survive. Herein, the neo-institutionalist perspective on crises in EU integration frames an original and timely inquiry into the role of a new EU initiative – the European Education Area – in supporting EU integration in these challenging times. This inquiry relies on a thematic analysis of relevant key policy materials. The findings highlight that while it is not surprising that the EEA is an example of an education convergence project in the EU, the novelty of other findings is striking. It appears that the crises in the EU inspired the authors of the EEA to utilize its education as a tool for EU deepening, which is an aspect of EU integration related to the strengthening of the relationships amongst its Member States. Specifically, the EEA has been a driver in the development of a common European identity and European economy, the EU as a socially-just society and the continent of progress. These findings address important gaps of our knowledge about the role of education in driving EU integration.

欧盟面临许多危机，例如民粹主义、仇外心理、经济和政治挑战等等。这导致了一些人质疑欧盟能否生存下来。在这里，关于欧盟一体化危机的新制度主义观点构成了对新的欧盟倡议——欧洲教育区——在这些充满挑战的时代支持欧盟一体化的作用的原创和及时的调查。这项调查依赖于对相关关键政策材料的专题分析。调查结果强调，虽然欧洲经济区是欧盟教育融合项目的一个例子并不奇怪，但其他调查结果的新颖性令人震惊。欧盟的危机似乎激发了欧洲经济区的作者利用其教育作为深化欧盟的工具，这是欧盟一体化的一个方面，与加强其成员国之间的关系有关。具体而言，欧洲经济区一直是欧洲共同身份和欧洲经济发展的推动力，欧盟是一个社会公正的社会和进步大陆。这些发现解决了我们对教育在推动欧盟一体化中的作用的认识的重要差距。