The recent political and economic turmoil has accentuated the key historical tensions of the integration process: nationalism vs europeanism, federalism vs confederalism, democracy vs technocracy, ‘Social Europe’ vs neoliberal Europe. In this paper I claim that the essential multiplicity of European identity and European narratives is rooted in these tensions. To illustrate this, I focus on contemporary narratives on Jean Monnet, the so called founding father of the European Union. I investigate how the image of Monnet is used by scholars to advocate different interpretations and agendas for the EU. What emerges from this analysis is a variety of reconstructions of EU’s most important political hero:
Monnet, the enemy of nationalism and the builder of the European man, is juxtaposed against Monnet, the guardian of the French national interest.
Monnet, the pioneer of (neo)functionalism, is juxtaposed against Monnet, the intergovernmentalist.
Monnet, the treacherous technocrat and the enemy of democracy, is juxtaposed against Monnet, the prudent builder of structures for a future European democracy.
Monnet, the free-marketeer, is juxtaposed against Monnet, the Saint-Simonian super-state planner.
Such mutually antithetical European imaginary is found in the contemporary literature of EU studies, EU historiography, and popular academic writings on the EU. In this paper I interpret these differences in terms of European identity formation processes. Building on Klaus Eder’s narrativistic theory of European collective identity, I argue that attempts to lionize Monnet’s memory by proponents of opposing European political visions are illustrative of the special nature of European identity. Absent a strong political center and a central hegemonic narrative, European identity can be conceived as a plurality of stories reflective of the key tensions of the European integration project. The paper also discusses the extent to which EU studies contributes to the formation of European collective memory and European identity.
