Negotiating Memory at The European Parliament After the Enlargement (2004–2009)

Abstract

In 2004, the accession of ten new member states to the European Union has a significant impact on the continuing debate about the European narrative. The Western European view on the Second World War and the Holocaust is contested by other claims focusing on the Stalinist crimes and other Cold War events. The European Parliament becomes a forum for this symbolic struggle about European memory. An in-depth analysis shows that the enlargement conducts the Parliament to include new historical events in the European narrative and leads to news debates about the hierarchy of events. In these debates, a coalition of Baltic-Polish member states and nationalist eurosceptics is particularly dominating the European scene.