Narratives in European Union Enlargement - The impact of experience on continuity and change

Abstract: Enlargement has become a current subject as attention has been brought to its process and direction. The aim of this thesis is to study the narrative within enlargement in the European Union. The primary material consists of fifteen transcribed speeches, held by Commissioners for Enlargement and Presidents of the European Commission during the period 2001-2020. The study takes into account how the narrative within and the approach to enlargement has changed during this period. The research questions that guides the text are: To what extent and why has the narrative and approach to enlargement been affected by previous enlargement rounds? How can the narrative and approach to enlargement be understood based on Discursive Institutionalism? The method applied is a Narrative Analysis, derived from the version by William Labov and Joshua Waletzky and it has been supplemented with two own additional functions, with inspiration from the theoretical framework. One function determines the type of idea visible in the speeches, while the other function places the speeches within a discourse. The structure of the utilized Narrative Analysis includes the following eight functions: abstract, orientation, complication, evaluation, resolution, coda, ideas and discourse. Discursive Institutionalism by Vivien A. Schmidt formulates the theoretical framework for the thesis and it categorizes different types of ideas as policies, programs or philosophies. Subsequently, ideas can be understood as cognitive and normative. Ideas are consequently placed within a discourse that is coordinative or communicative. Accordingly, the main aspects of the theory constitute the structure for the analysis. Furthermore, the results of the study indicate that trends have developed over time concerning the content of the narrative on and how it is communicated. The conclusions indicate that the experience of previous enlargement rounds has affected the narrative and the approach, since the fundamentals remain important in the narrative while the approach is adjusted. Lastly, the narrative and approach to enlargement can be understood based on Discursive Institutionalism in accordance with the four fundamental assumptions of the theory.