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A Word Too Far? Debating Europe and Discursive Impediments among French MPs

par Jadot, Clément
Référence ECPR General Conference (7th: 4-7 juillet 2013: Bordeaux)
Publication Non publié, 2013-07-06

Communication à un colloque

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Résumé :

How do discursive cultures influence party positions on European integration, and to what extent do they define borders not to be crossed? As independent variables of positioning, strategy and ideology have been both intensively discussed, but mainly distinctly. Little is known about how these two dimensions interact. Paying attention to semantic customs in parliamentary debates, this paper hypothesises that discourse occupies space between strategy and ideology, and frames the interplay between the two. Comparing European endorsements and reactions to them, from the ratification of the Treaty of Nice to the ratification of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union within the French National Assembly, it investigates the rhetoric mobilised by deputies to demonstrate if strategic and/or ideological trends may be highlighted. Due to its importance in the French debate, particular attention is also paid to the room left for federalism over time. In order to do so, the paper is divided into three different parts. First, it starts with theoretical remarks on previous research on political orientations towards the EU and the opportunities introduced by discursive analysis. Second, the case of France and its so-called “exceptional” relations with the EU is then presented. Third, based on data collected from key debates within Parliament, the research offers an empirical study combining a text-mining approach and computer-assisted qualitative analysis using NVivo. The strength of the paper is twofold. Theoretically, Europhilia offers a different perspective on EU positioning than Euroscepticism, and helps us to understand nuances otherwise hidden by conceptual tools used to classify Eurosceptic attitudes. Empirically, by looking at discourses within Parliament, the research explores a broad source of data, so far underexploited.