Abstract

This paper represents an attempt to apply a framework for the analysis of party attitudes to the EU in the study of political discourse. We found that in the member states the EU is mostly represented under its functional face and less for its appeal to identity. We also found that party attitudes to the EU are influenced by the positions of parties along the political spectrum that shape a pattern of competition over the EU that is not so different from competition over other issues. However, this pattern presents important differences between old and new member states and between countries with more and countries with less liberal economies.