European Imaginaries: Dead End of Further Integration? : Analysis of the Imaginaries of the European Heads of State and Government and the European Commission

This thesis analyses the imaginaries of important political decision makers of the European Union in the context of the refugee crisis and interprets them according to theories of European integration. Speeches, interviews, statements and press releases of the 28 heads of state and government of the European Member States and two Commissioners of the European Commission are analysed through qualitative content analysis. The aim is to derive prospects for European integration from the expressed imaginaries. For the interpretation, the theories neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism are applied. The study’s results show that the imaginaries of the largest group of national heads of state and government remain blurred without clarification, which position is taken with regard to European integration, while the imaginaries of the Commissioners are mainly characterised by support of further integration. According to both neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism, the interpretation of the imaginaries leads to the conclusion that the prospects for further European integration remain limited. Only in those policy fields directly related to the immediate crisis further cooperation can be expected.