EUnarratieven

EUnarratieven is a term used in discussions of European Union political communication to refer to the set of recurring narrative frames that shape how the EU and its policies are presented to publics across member states. The concept focuses on the stories, metaphors, and characters through which actors such as the European Commission, the European Parliament, member-state governments, regional authorities, and interest groups frame policy issues, justify actions, and construct legitimacy.

The term combines EU and narratives (narratieven in Dutch) and is used by scholars and policymakers to analyze how discourse circulates across multilingual networks, shaping perceptions during crises and ordinary governance.

Scope and methods: The analysis covers frames, plotlines, protagonists, and metaphors; common methodologies include discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, and narratology to map how messages travel across languages and media.

Common frames include migration as shared responsibility, security and sovereignty, economic integration as resilience, and climate action as collective progress. These frames influence policy legitimacy and public support, and they interact with media narratives and political campaigns.

Limitations and critique: EUnarratieven can oversimplify complex policy issues, reflect elite perspectives, and depend on translation accuracy across languages. They also raise concerns about manipulation and the need for transparency in how narratives are used in governance.

See also: political communication, framing, narratology.