The ‘founding fathers’ of the Euro envisaged a single European identity created through a common currency used by millions of EU citizens. However, as the EU moves towards deeper integration in economic policies, it is clear that this process has not taken place across the Union. Taking a discursive institutionalist approach, this paper presents empirical analysis of political and media discourse in two ‘peripheral’ EU member states – Ireland and Poland – to show how the path dependency of national discourses on Europe can reinforce divisions within the EU, particularly between core and periphery and North and South, by sparking debates on issues such as the meaning of sovereignty. These discussions about the EU do not always reveal a European identity, but instead relate to the compatibility of national identity with European integration. This has implications for the legitimacy of the Euro and further integration in the economic sphere.
