{"id":3481,"date":"2025-12-11T11:02:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T10:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/?p=3481"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:03:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T10:03:37","slug":"eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In: <em>REDEMOS Working Paper D7.4\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Policy is formulated based on what decision-makers believe, not necessarily on what is. The European Union\u2019s (EU) foreign policy is no exception. Yet we know little about how EU officials and institutional representatives perceive how the EU and its foreign policy are viewed by interlocutors abroad, or how these meta-perceptions shape their preferences for diplomatic instruments. This article revives earlier research from the 1950s and 1970s on external perceptions to theorize foreign policy-making as a reflexive process shaped by perceived reputational standing, using updated methodological tools. We modernize Qmethodology and combine it with original survey data to capture how EU representatives construe the Union\u2019s external image and how these perceptions inform their diplomatic preferences. Focusing on democracy promotion in the EU\u2019s Eastern Neighborhood, our analysis shows that respondents who believed the EU was seen as lacking strategic coherence or normative authority were less supportive of assertive or confrontational democracy promotion instruments. These findings highlight a reflexive, perception-driven dynamic in foreign policy preference formation, linking how the EU is viewed abroad to how its representatives understand legitimate and effective diplomacy.<\/p>\n<p>You can access the whole article <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5281\/zenodo.17799990\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/redemos.eu\/resources\/publications\/working-papers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In: REDEMOS Working Paper D7.4\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-publication"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies - EDP Netzwerk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In: REDEMOS Working Paper D7.4\u00a0 Policy is formulated based on what decision-makers believe, not necessarily on what is. The European Union\u2019s (EU) foreign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies - EDP Netzwerk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In: REDEMOS Working Paper D7.4\u00a0 Policy is formulated based on what decision-makers believe, not necessarily on what is. The European Union\u2019s (EU) foreign\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EDP Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-11T10:02:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-10T10:03:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"redaktion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"redaktion\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1\u00a0Minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"redaktion\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d31e00ee83784377361c70f7f3c1d1bf\"},\"headline\":\"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-11T10:02:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-10T10:03:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":211,\"articleSection\":[\"Publication\"],\"inLanguage\":\"de\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\\\/\",\"name\":\"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies - EDP Netzwerk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-11T10:02:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-10T10:03:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d31e00ee83784377361c70f7f3c1d1bf\"},\"description\":\"In: REDEMOS Working Paper D7.4\u00a0 Policy is formulated based on what decision-makers believe, not necessarily on what is. The European Union\u2019s (EU) foreign\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"de\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/\",\"name\":\"EDP Network\",\"description\":\"Deutsche Website\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"de\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d31e00ee83784377361c70f7f3c1d1bf\",\"name\":\"redaktion\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\\\/de\\\/author\\\/redaktion\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies - EDP Netzwerk","description":"In: REDEMOS Working Paper D7.4\u00a0 Policy is formulated based on what decision-makers believe, not necessarily on what is. The European Union\u2019s (EU) foreign","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies - EDP Netzwerk","og_description":"In: REDEMOS Working Paper D7.4\u00a0 Policy is formulated based on what decision-makers believe, not necessarily on what is. The European Union\u2019s (EU) foreign","og_url":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/","og_site_name":"EDP Network","article_published_time":"2025-12-11T10:02:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-10T10:03:37+00:00","author":"redaktion","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Verfasst von":"redaktion","Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit":"1\u00a0Minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/"},"author":{"name":"redaktion","@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/#\/schema\/person\/d31e00ee83784377361c70f7f3c1d1bf"},"headline":"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies","datePublished":"2025-12-11T10:02:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-10T10:03:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/"},"wordCount":211,"articleSection":["Publication"],"inLanguage":"de"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/","url":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/","name":"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies - EDP Netzwerk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-11T10:02:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-10T10:03:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/#\/schema\/person\/d31e00ee83784377361c70f7f3c1d1bf"},"description":"In: REDEMOS Working Paper D7.4\u00a0 Policy is formulated based on what decision-makers believe, not necessarily on what is. The European Union\u2019s (EU) foreign","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"de","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/eu-understandings-of-its-image-as-a-norms-supporter-and-their-relevance-for-eu-policies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"EU understandings of its image as a norms supporter and their relevance for EU policies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/","name":"EDP Network","description":"Deutsche Website","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"de"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/#\/schema\/person\/d31e00ee83784377361c70f7f3c1d1bf","name":"redaktion","url":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/author\/redaktion\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3482,"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3481\/revisions\/3482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.external-democracy-promotion.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}