Communicating EU External Action: What Role for Strategic Narratives in the Commission's Promotion of the Global Gateway?

Abstract When the European Union promotes its external policies, it usually goes largely unnoticed. This was different for the EU's flagship initiative for external investments, the Global Gateway, which quickly created a public discussion amongst European pundits about what it means for the EU as a geopolitical actor. Yet, this EU‐centric debate omits those audiences for whom the policy is intended. This contribution starts from the assumption that communication can be a form of soft power through the use of strategic narratives. Building on insights from a perceptual approach to the EU's external relations, the contribution asks how the EU uses strategic narratives in the promotion of the Global Gateway and how this speaks to third countries' perceptions of the EU with the aim of improving partners' engagement. To shed light on the underlying strategic narratives, the contribution analyses the Commission's public communication on the Global Gateway in the early phase following the initiative's launch between December 2021 and July 2023. Whilst the public focus was on the geopolitical narrative turn, we show that the Commission's narratives highlighted development and the importance of values, representing a degree of continuity that speaks to accusations of the EU's hypocrisy and lack of willingness to consider external perceptions of partners seriously.