The pressures of climate change, growing energy demand and geopolitical competition make the study of energy policies extremely important for the future of Europe at both the national and supranational levels. This research focuses on the external energy policies of France (one of the EU member states with a distinct energy vision) vis-à-vis the respective policies of the EU. How does France, a powerful nation-state yet an intrinsic part of the EU, formulate its strategic visions in terms of energy and project itself strategically on the national, European and global scenes? Do these projections complement or contradict each other? What is their relation to the formulations and projections of EU external energy policy? To explain the mechanisms behind strategic formulation and projection of external energy policies of an EU member state, and their interactions with energy policy narratives formulated and projected by the EU, this thesis engages with three theoretical models and seeks novel synergies between them. These are constructivism (the macro- level theorisation), strategic narrative theory (the meso-level model) and cascading activation framing theory (the micro-level theory).