Introduction

We seem to have arrived at one of Ringmar's ‘formative moments’ (1996: 456), where the dominant story of liberal internationalism, rules-based multilateralism and the universal appeal of cosmopolitan values is coming undone in the face of popular resistance and shifts in the international balance of power (Lavery and Schmid, 2021). As a new dominant story coheres, one that marches along the tunes of either ‘geopolitical’ or ‘US– China competition’, stories about EU– China relations in EU foreign policy (EUFP) have evolved from a small and politically insignificant cacophony to a three-layered harmony (Langendonk and Drieskens, 2022). Does this mean that the EU has rediscovered itself ‘as a new kind of character participating in a different kind of plot’ (Ringmar, 1996: 456)? And if so, what role have stories of China played?

In this chapter, I contribute to this volume's exploration of how stories in Europe– China relations work by approaching EUFP as ‘as a contested narrative that the EU tells about itself ‘ (Kurowska, 2018: 274). In adopting this perspective, I am not arguing that narrative is a fundamental ontology (Hagström and Gustafsson, 2019), rendering it a ‘master variable’ for explaining change in EUFP. I am also not arguing that narratives are strategic (Miskimmon et al, 2013), which assumes an important role for elites as powerful ‘reality brokers’. Instead, I am approaching it through a praxis lens, as a theoretical interface to make sense of ‘social action here and now’ (Hellmann and Steffek, 2022: 2; see also Kratochwil, 2018). This approach should not be confused with the ‘practice turn’ in International Relations (IR) and European Studies (ES), which stresses the habitual character of action (Bremberg et al, 2022).