The External Image of the European Union – Phase 2

Abstract

Looking at a Survey on the external image of the European Union (EU) one might wonder why bother: why should we pay attention to the image of the EU that other countries or international organizations have? Indeed, there are several reasons to bother: there is a severe gap in the literature that needs to be overcome; external images shape the way in which other actors interact with the EU, which implies that the EU foreign policy’s efficacy is due to be influenced by they way in which its counterparts perceive it as an international actor; the external image of the EU eventually influences also the way in which the Europeans perceive themselves as a political group (and the extent to which the do). This report focuses attention precisely on this latter aspect and investigates if and how foreign policy at large and external images in particular influence political identity.