Is the EU perceived and recognised as an actor in international relations? The case of EU-Nigeria energy relations

Abstract

Energy plays an important role in EU-Nigeria relations. In this respect, the main aim of the article is to answer two questions. (1) Is the EU perceived and recognised in Nigeria's media discourse as an independent actor in their mutual energy relations, or are these relations more the domain of individual European states? (2) Do perceptions of EU actorness by Nigeria differ concerning the energy policy segment? The research questions are answered by a qualitative content analysis of 420 articles from the seven main Nigerian newspapers between 2007 and 2018 which are focused on the field of energy interaction, and which are examined as to whether they contain views in which the EU or European states is/are perceived as (an) important energy actor(s). At the theoretical level, the article is based on the criterion of the perception and external recognition as one aspect of a modified concept of EU actorness in energy relations.