Behälter, Clubs, Kreise und verschiedene Geschwindigkeiten: Metaphern für die Konstruktion Europas

The introduction of the euro in the European countries was the project of the century. In the 1990s the project was emotionally discussed, particularly the further integration. In 1994 the French prime minister, Edouard Balladur, presented his ideas of the future integration of the European Union in form of concentric circles. A few days later, the Christian Democrat parties in Germany published a concept of a central core. Metaphors play a key part in the debate about the European Union and the European Monetary Union.1 Metaphorical language helps politicians and journalists to express highly complex issues like the European Union in a comprehensible way for the public. Without metaphors politicians wouldn’t be able to express their ideas of the further European integration. The paper presents an analysis of the use of metaphors in Belgian, Swiss, German and French newspapers in the 1990s. Do European journalists use the same metaphors to describe the ideas of the further European integration?