Abstract: The traditional explanations of preference formation of the member states of the European Union stress the importance of structural (GDP, net incomes from the EU budget, level of economic development) and institutional factors (type of negotiation forum, level of negotiations, presidency of the Council, regional governance). In this paper we will focus on the third group of possible explanation, namely the ideational factors and their role in formulating the attitudes of member states’ governments on the issue of European integration. Apart from short-term preferences, governments have long-term strategies on the European integration. In this paper we will introduce a model of explaining the integration strategies of new member states of the European Union on the basis of ideational factors.

Keywords: European integration, preference formation, integration strategy, idea of state