Constructing the EU’s political identity in policy making

Abstract

Questions of identity have returned to the centre of political debates in Europe. A key issue is that while the EU has greatly expanded its powers in key policy domains that traditionally have been the preserve of nation states, its political identity remains weak. The special issue examines the construction of the EU's political identity (or identities), variations in its strength and the nature of its content. Drawing on studies both on European nation-state formation and on the EU's identity, we take a topdown approach and analyse how EU institutions in different major policy domains have themselves sought to create political identity through policy making. We define the construction of EU political identity and set out empirically applicable indicators to assess political identity in policy making. We analyse the construction of identity through a process-oriented approach that explicitly includes contestation and the existence of rival political identities. Comparing across policy domains, we suggest that the ability of EU institutions to construct an EU political identity has been limited not only by existing national identities but also by the coexistence of rival EU political identities within policy domains. Hence, it has been difficult for EU institutions to establish a strong identity, with identity being strongest where there are clear external alternatives and limited rival identities within the EU.

Common market, normative power or super-state? Conflicting political identities in EU asylum and immigration policy

“…While establishing a neofunctionalist line of justification, deriving migration policy cooperation from the prerogatives of Single Market formation, this discourse also served to affirm the EU's political identity and relevance vis-à-vis its citizenry. This corroborates Saurugger and Thatcher (2019) who argue that in processes of political identity formation cognitive frames are not only constitutive of actors but also the outflow of intentional, strategic action.…”

“…common asylum and immigration policies is a fascinating field for studying processes of political identity construction in the EU and the values involved (Saurugger and Thatcher 2019). This is for two reasons.…”

Common currency, common identity? The impact of the Euro introduction on European identity

“…However, it is worth noting that the Euro is not the only supranational institution affecting European citizens’ ordinary lives. Thus, there are reasons to believe that, together, European institutions are capable of building and fostering collective identities (see also Saurugger and Thatcher, 2019).…”

“…How could the introduction of the common currency lead to a common identity? While there are obvious differences between European integration of core state powers in the 20 th and 21 st century, and the development of nation-states in the 19 th century (Saurugger and Thatcher, 2019), existing literature on how state building has helped in forging national identities is informative. Based on this literature, we can identify three general pathways through which the introduction of the Euro could foster a European identity.…”

Standing for Europe: Citizens' perceptions of European symbols as evidence of a “banal Europeanism”?

“…While the consensus prevails that no congruence between culture and politics is possible at the European level (McNamara, 2015) but that identity politics is now impossible to ignore (Börzel & Risse, 2018), views are more diverging regarding the range and outcomes of symbolic resources. Saurugger and Thatcher emphasise that the EU political identity is most designed through its different policies, is different from one policy to another and does not imply convergence of positions on European integration itself (Saurugger & Thatcher, 2019, p. 68).…”