European Identity and the Myth of the Peace Project

Abstract

The extent to which European identity is accepted by the Europeans in comparison with national identities and what European identity means are topics that are analyzed in the European integration literature. This study uses Eurobarometer data to analyze how much the European identity is endorsed after the Eurozone crisis and how the European institutions aim to define Europeanness. Through critical discourse analysis of the State of the European Union speeches delivered by the President of the European Commission this study demonstrates that Europe as a peace project myth is central in their attempts to render European identity valuable in the eyes of the Europeans.