This book examines and compares government narratives of the EU. It thereby addresses a topical issue of major political importance. Bringing together leading specialists from across Europe, it takes a first step in filling a gap in the scholarly literature where attention has focused mainly on narrative-making at the EU level or societal understandings of ‘Europe’. At a time when crises, the rise of Eurosceptic populism and the UK’s departure have revealed significant differences in how states view the purpose of the European Union and the significance and value of EU membership, it asks: How do governments explain and justify their relationship with the EU? How do these narratives change over time? What do these visions imply for the EU’s future?

Hussein Kassim is Professor of Politics at the University of East Anglia and ESRC Senior Fellow under ‘The UK in a Changing Europe’ programme, UK.

Adriaan Schout is Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute (The Netherlands Institute of International Relations), Wassenaar, The Netherlands.