National Government Narratives of the EU

'Official Stories’ of Belonging

Hussein Kassim, Adriaan Schout

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN:
  9783031199851
• eBook ISBN:
  9783031199868
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Comparative Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book examines and compares government narratives of the EU. It thereby addresses a topical issue of major political importance. Bringing together leading specialists from across Europe, it takes a first step in filling a gap in the scholarly literature where attention has focused mainly on narrative-making at the EU level or societal understandings of 'Europe'. At a time when crises, the rise of Eurosceptic populism and the UK's departure have revealed significant differences in how states view the purpose of the European Union and the significance and value of EU membership, it asks: How do governments explain and justify their relationship with the EU? How do these narratives change over time? What do these visions imply for the EU's future?

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: ‘Official Stories’—how National Governments Narrate the EU
• 2. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: German Narratives of Europapolitik
• 3. A Long Goodbye to the French Europe
• 4. Italy: From the Heart of Europe to the ‘Good European’
• 5. The Netherlands: ‘European Integration Limited to Cooperation’
• 6. The UK’s Official EU Narrative: A Trilogy in More Than Three Parts
• 7. Ireland and the European Union: Continuity and Change in National Narratives
• 8. Denmark’s Narrative on the EU: Between Pragmatism and Small State Activism
• 9. The Swing of the Pendulum: EU Narratives in Greece in a Time of Crisis
• 10. Austria’s EU Narrative: From Economic Pragmatism to Bold Self-Assertiveness
• 11. The Clash of ‘Europeanisation’ and ‘Traditionalisation’ in Hungary: East-Central Europe and the Reinvention of the Past
• 12. Poland’s EU Narrative: Between Nativist and Internationalist Visions of Europe
• 13. The EU Narrative in Lithuania: Membership as a Geopolitical Miracle and a Mission to Wake Up the EU to the Defence of Its Values
• 14. Conclusion: ‘Official Stories’ in Comparative Perspective—Different Ways to Narrate Belonging?
• Back Matter