Hugo Canihac, who started a PhD at Sciences Po Bordeaux in 2012, concentrates in his most recent study on the struggles to build two highly symbolic definitions of the European Union: the EU as a ‘supranational’ organization and as a ‘social market economy’. For this purpose he visited the HAEU in October 2014 as a Sørensen fellow.
Canihac reports to have had a very fruitful visit to Villa Salviati: “I used the fonds relating to the stillborn European Political Community, in the 50’s, where ‘supranational’ Europe was first defined - and dismissed. I compared the preparatory works of the Commissions drafting this project with the work of experts and lobbies supporting it – especially the ‘Action Committee for a Supranational European Community’, inside the European Movement.”
The researcher also focused on the archival fonds of French economist Pierre Uri and the numerous documents revealing his intellectual orientation before and during the negotiations of Messina and Rome and his participation in various committees and associations to promote his view of a united Europe. Canihac also used the archives of Robert Toulemon and Emile Noël.
“My research originates in a simple observation: the process of European integration has not only led to the emergence of institutions; it has been paralleled by the progressive constitution of discourses, concepts and relevant knowledge.”
European integration is also a process where intellectual frameworks are elaborated in order to define, analyze and make sense of the institutions being built. Many of these frameworks are extremely controversial, for they can be traced back to different historical backgrounds and projects.
Understanding the way these frameworks are built, circulated and eventually accepted or dismissed is the objective of Canihac’s research.
“My focus is on political and academic actors and arenas involved in these debates, especially in France and Germany. Regarding political debate, I investigate the uses of these concepts in national Parliaments and in the European Parliament.”
According to Canihac, this requires the reconstruction of the conceptual roots of definitions, as well as dealing with the process of circulation and legitimization in public discourses of these narratives.
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