UNIONE EUROPEA IN CRISI D’IDENTITÀ E NECESSITÀ DI UN “VIRTUAL INFLUENCER" AI FINI DEL RILANCIO DEL PROCESSO DI INTEGRAZIONE

The European Union is undergoing a profound crisis affecting its identity, democratic legitimacy, and ability to communicate effectively with its citizens. The widespread perception of the EU as a distant, technocratic, and self–referential entity intertwines with a deficit of political representation and an often inaccessible institutional language, thereby fostering mistrust and disengagement. Within this context, the paper advances, both as an innovative and provocative hypothesis, the idea of a virtual influencer as a potential instrument for revitalizing the European integration process. This digital figure, created through artificial intelligence and immersive communication technologies, could act as a mediator between institutions and citizens making the Union’s values and policies more understandable, empathetic, and participatory. The objective would not merely be to enhance the Union’s image, but to restore a sense of proximity, authenticity, and belonging, ultimately fostering, a renewed form of European citizenship grounded in participation and awareness.