PI: Annie Niessen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Pennsylvania
Grant Amount and Grant Fund: $2,500, Edward Artinian Fund for Publishing
Project Abstract: The research monograph, which will be based on my PhD thesis, will address an underexplored yet crucial aspect that has deeply influenced the development of European integration: the EU’s discourse on Europe and Europeanness. The book will analyze the four interpretations of the “European State” formulation (Art. 49 TEU)—the primary membership requirement—that were provided by the EU institutional actors to legitimize the applicant states’ eligibility and, in turn, enlargement decisions. Building on an original corpus of archival material, the book will constitute the first wide-ranging study of EU supranational institutions’ interpretations of the “European State” formulation and related notions of Europe and Europeanness over the 70 years of European integration. Its core argument is that the “European State” membership requirement and the discursive practices surrounding it have resulted in a new, institutional-driven, narrative on Europe and Europeanness that has been a significant part of the EU’s legitimation discourse.