Introduction

This special issue surveys the ways in which a focus on discourse can bring new insights in a number of key areas in European Union studies. It claims that although increasingly prominent in recent years, discourse theory and discourse analysis are still at an infant stage in European Union studies. At the moment, three different research agendas and approaches to discourse theory in European Union studies can be identified: analysing discourses of national foreign policies and its relations with the European level, the discourse analysis of European identity and culture, and finally analysing discourse to explain governance and political struggle. This special issue focuses on how discourse and various narratives contribute to the construction of the European Union as a political actor, thus seeking to challenge the more established approaches to the study of the Union. It sheds light on the way discourses about the European Union are created, perpetuated and then translated into policy outcomes. Most papers attempt to account for the differences that usually arise between discourse and policy practices. The methods employed range from more traditional variants of discourse analysis to other more radical versions that emphasize power, or to critical or differential reading of policy narratives and ethnography. Policy areas such as trade, enlargement, foreign policy and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) are discussed, while a particular interest is awarded to the European Parliament and the Commission. In doing so, the contributions shed light on the role discourse plays in relation to policies, institutional practices, and value representations at the European level. Moreover, the authors analyse the different actors and structures that create and perpetuate discourses within the EU, highlighting new insights that a focus on discourse can bring to the field of European Union studies