DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF (TRANS)NATIONAL VS. PARTY POLITICS IN THREE EUROPEAN AFFAIRS PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS APPROACH

Abstract

This paper analyses and compares the discursive and ideological construction of identities in the European Union (EU) committees of the parliaments of the United Kingdom, France and Spain. The sessions under focus deal with the Draft European Constitutional Treaty, an issue inherently related to the construction of a European identity. Following Critical Discourse Analysis, a qualitative analysis has been carried out, which specially draws on the concepts of ‘legitimization’ vs. ‘delegitimization’, ‘positive self-presentation’ vs. ‘negative other-presentation’, ‘consensus’ vs. ‘polarization’, and the pragmatic notions of ‘presupposition’ and ‘implicature’. The analysis has revealed that the sessions focus on regional, national or party identities, instead of on a true European identity. Whereas the British and French members’ interventions attempt to foster a national identity within the framework of a European build-up and seek national interest, most of the Spanish spokespeople’s turns are devoted, curiously enough, to the creation of a mere party identity.