European security and defence cooperation has experienced some potentially significant advances since the release of the European Union Global Strategy in 2016. Furthermore, due to recent developments such as more aggressive behaviour from Russia, a drastic influx of irregular migrants to Europe and the impact of the Trump administration on international affairs, the EU’s attempts to deal with security and defence issues have once more become a focal point for many Europeans. Yet, the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) while somewhat ambitious, is often criticised for its inefficient implementation. This thesis assessed the extent to which security practitioners ‘buy into’ the idea of integrating security and defence within the EU and develop a sense of European integration identity. It hypothesised that while common training may have an impact on individuals’ notions of identity, national interests would continue to shape practitioners’ views on security and defence integration.

The concept of strategic narratives as developed by Roselle et al. (2012) was used to investigate the impact that CSDP-related training courses coordinated by the European Security and Defence College have on practitioners’ concepts of European identity. A content analysis of the EU’s two security strategies was complimented by expert interviews to assess the formation and projection of security-related strategic narratives. The reception of narratives was examined through an online survey prior to participation in EU-level training courses and semi-structured interviews after completing the course.

The data collected provides a rare empirical application of the concept of strategic narrative and makes a novel contribution to the study of European identity by focusing on practitioners’ understandings of European identity. It shows that despite CSDP training courses being a useful platform for the projection of strategic narratives, the EU struggles to communicate coherent and convincing strategic narratives that are able to build a European security culture and contribute to the emergence of a European integration identity.

Instead, findings indicate that national interests remain the key factor in shaping practitioners’ views on security and defence and support for further European cooperation and integration is dependent on being beneficial to national foreign policy agendas rather than the pursuit of a greater ‘European good’.