europäischen

Europäischen is the inflected form of the German adjective europäisch, meaning European. It is not a standalone noun; rather, it functions as an attributive or predicative adjective that describes people, regions, institutions, or things related to Europe or the European Union. In German, adjectives decline according to gender, number, and case, so europäisch takes different endings. Europäischen appears especially in plural forms and in certain cases.

Common uses include phrases such as die europäischen Länder (the European countries), den europäischen Ländern (dative plural: with the European countries), and der Europäischen Union or in der Europäischen Union (genitive and dative singular: of the European Union / in the European Union). The ending -en in europäisch-derived forms marks plural or certain cases, while forms like europäisch or europäische appear in other combinations. In official names, the adjective is often capitalized as part of a proper noun, for example Die Europäische Union or Das Europäische Parlament. There, Europäisches or Europäische may appear as the first word of a proper noun and thus is capitalized.

Origins and scope: the term derives from Europe and the suffix -isch, used to form adjectives indicating belonging or relation. In practice, europäisch covers a broad range of meanings related to Europe or European characteristics, including politics, culture, economics, and geography. In German-language media and scholarship, Europäisches, Europäische, and Europäisches frequently appear in discussions of European integration, policy, and identity.