National EU Discourses in Germany and France and the Construction of European Identity

Abstract

This article presents the core findings of a comparative study on the German and French national EU discourses around the draft Treaty on a Constitution for Europe in 2005 and on their effect on European identity formation. It is based on the main methodological assumption that European identity, among other means, can be constructed in national EU discourses, as such discourses construct meaning for the EU. The French discourse related to the referendum on the EU draft Constitutional Treaty in 2005, and the German discourse related to the ratification process of the EU Constitutional Treaty in 2005 are analysed in their function as means of European identity construction and in a comparative discourse-analytical design. The leading research question is: In what respect and to what extent do national EU discourses function as a means for the formation of European identity and the democratisation of the EU? The article first conceptualises European identity and collective identity and develops the research heuristics. After that methodology, techniques, cases, and research design of the comparative discourse analysis are developed. The main part presents core results. The article concludes that while the German discourse is an EU discourse with a national base, the French one is a national EU discourse. Both had few chances to serve as means of European identity construction, but for opposed reasons: the French discourse was very intense but constructed an opposition between France and the EU, and the German discourse constructed harmony, but was not intense.