Is there a common institutional discourse on the ENP: rhetoric during debates and during Question Time at the European Parliament on the Eastern neighbours

Futak-Campbell, Beatrix. (2007) Is there a common institutional discourse on the ENP: rhetoric during debates and during Question Time at the European Parliament on the Eastern neighbours. In European Union Studies Association (EUSA) > Biennial Conference > 2007 (10th), May 17-19, 2007, pages 16, Montreal, Canada.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the different institutional discursive formulations on the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) vis-à-vis the Eastern neighbours of the EU. The data was collected from AFET Committee debates and Question Times Debates at the European Parliament on the ENP when representatives from the Council and the Commission were also present. The identified discursive strategies were constructions of the ENP as a vocation for Europe (i); as defining the borders of Europe (ii); and as classifying 'Europeaness'' there was however another competing discursive strategy which is in opposition to these above mentioned by focusing on the energy resources and supplies avaiable through those states participating in the ENP. These findings demonstrate the 'practices' of EU practitioners on the ENP and how these constructions implicate the wider notions of a fragmented and inconstant identity of the EU as a whole.