The Public Attitudes and Images of the European Union in India

Abstract

This article seeks to fill a major gap in existing studies on how Asians perceive the European Union. It discusses the Union’s efforts to promote its visibility in India since the mid-1990s and provides an overview of the Indian literati’s perceptions of contemporary Europe. This article examines the perception, representation and visibility of the EU in the Indian media, among business, civil society and media ‘elite’ and in public opinion. It explores whether the Union’s self-proclaimed representation as a global actor, a normative power and a leader in environmental negotiations conforms to how it is actually perceived in Third World countries. It evaluates whether more than a decade of summitry has led to greater visibility of the EU in the Indian media. The article concludes by making a comparison of EU imagery in media, elite and public opinion discourses, and makes several recommendations on how EU can possibly improve its visibility in future.