Narratives of integration. A holistic approach to European legitimacy

This working paper develops a holistic approach to the legitimation of the European Union, in the light of the distance between citizens' perceptions of the European project and the existing norms and institutions. The aim is to contribute to a comprehensive examination of principles, practices, and perceptions of the EU, relating to both the polity and policy levels. The analysis starts from the acknowledgement that the EU's legitimacy is contested and that there is a plurality of critiques and justifications for the European project. The aim is to provide a first step by recognizing and describing (or mapping) existing significant diversity, and identify tensions, critiques, as well as affinities, and, ultimately, indicate potential 'bridges' or compromises. The second, more difficult step, will be made in a successive working paper, which seeks to develop a new narrative for the European integration process, and which reflects both institutional and societal narratives of the European project.