de Jong, Jan

Although the perceived lack of a European identity has always been an issue in the legitimisation of the EU, the economic crisis has intensified the struggles between national and European group identities. The main focus of this thesis the way group identities are represented in the coverage of the EU by two Dutch newspapers, the Telegraaf and NRC Handelsblad, in 2005 and 2012, before and after the start of the crisis. Using Jenkins' (2008) definition of social identity, the way in which different in- and out-groups are represented in the articles is analysed. In line with Lengyel (2014), a more positive and stable representation of the EU was found in the more 'elite' NRC Handelsblad, with a more Eurosceptic and changing attitude in the more 'populist' Telegraaf, creating a divergence between the two newspapers. Also, in accordance with Etzioni (2013), the representation of the EU as a political community in NRC Handelsblad in both years can be seen as a reason for the relative stability of its discourse, with the more utilitarian attitude towards the EU in the Telegraaf explaining the radicalisation of its articles after the economic crisis. Finally, the main conclusion of this thesis is that contrary to Eder's (2012) claim that the economic crisis is a critical point in the development of a...

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