The study of metaphors in political discourse provides an excellent opportunity to introduce discourse analysis to theories of European integration and international relations. This article suggests a framework of analysis for linking the study of metaphors with these literatures. In a first step, the article connects the International Relations concepts of macro-structure, micro-structure and internalization with the analogous concepts of conceptual metaphors, metaphorical expressions and sedimentation as used in the study of metaphors. In a second step, it examines key metaphors used in discourses on the future of the EU. The empirical analysis suggests that the metaphors of MOTION, CONTAINER and EQUILIBRIUM OF CONTAINERS are the most significant discursive representations of the EU.

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Karl Deutsch focused in his work on many social, political and technical aspects of building political community which can enrich our understanding of international cooperation and European integration. It is especially his concept of the political community that helps us to explain current problems of the European integration: namely, the current pre-occupation with the market and institutions leads to the neglect of the common redistribution and of the horizontal ties among the state institutions and among the peoples. This article also points to the tension between Deutsch's awareness that the study of political communities requires the examination of values, love and spirituality, and his positivist, quantitative methods which do not allow for such an examination. This tension invites to a re-reading of Deutsch, which can enrich the liberal tradition of international relations (IR).

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