The narrative of food sovereignty, first championed by La Via Campesina in the 1990s, has evolved into a critical framework within European policy discourse. Initially rooted in grassroots movements advocating for the rights of small-scale farmers, the concept has gained political momentum in the European Union, facing numerous internal and external challenges. This paper traces the journey of the food sovereignty narrative from its South-American origins to its European adaptation, highlighting the pivotal role of crises—such as the 2007-2008 global food crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine—in shaping its institutionalization. Using qualitative analysis with MAXQDA, the paper examines how European food sovereignty has been mobilized to address vulnerabilities in the EU’s agricultural and food systems. It explores the tensions between grassroots calls for radical transformation and institutional efforts to frame food sovereignty as a tool for resilience, sustainability, and strategic autonomy. Key moments, such as the advocacy of agri-food movements and the French push to integrate discussion of ‘sovereignty’ into CAP reforms, reveal how crises have acted as accelerators, driving the narrative’s transition from the margins to mainstream discourse. This paper examines how food sovereignty has evolved into an "umbrella narrative," a concept that accommodates diverse interpretations and actions among various actors. By analyzing the evocative language within this narrative, the study highlights the dynamic processes through which crises have both legitimized and transformed the European food sovereignty discourse.

Foods and drinks are widely accepted as markers of national identity, and a vast academic literature exists on the concept of Gastronationalism, or the construction of national identity through food. However, one of the dominant global food and agriculture actors, the European Union, has repeatedly not only boasted about the supposedly extraordinary culinary heritage of its member states, but explicitly appealed to “EU-ropean” foodways. How are these EU-ropean foodways imagined, how do they connect to understandings of European identity, and how do they differ from Gastronationalism? Drawing on methodological insights from Sociology, Literature Studies, and History, this paper analyses three cookbooks, published by the European Commission, to identify how they construct “EU-ropean food” and European identity more broadly. It finds clear echoes of EU symbols and founding myths, including its “United in Diversity” slogan, as well as imaginaries of a historical community. Moreover, themes of purity, quality, and a bridge between tradition and innovation are utilised to characterise EU-ropean food. Next to its empirical findings, the paper argues for the use of recipe books and food narratives as a valuable tool for European Studies and explorations of EU-ropean identity.

Despite repeated external pressures, the core of EU agricultural policies has endured for decades. What strategies have incumbent actors deployed to repulse, re-orient or water-down external challenges, and at what cost? In a recent study, Ripoll-Servent and Zaun (2023) argue populist governments engage in unpolitics in the Council – rejecting formal and informal rules, rejecting compromises and fostering deadlock. This paper investigates a recent challenge to European agricultural policy, the European Green Deal, the ensuing farmers protests of 2023-2024 and how EU actors responded. Through three case legislative case studies, it finds that patterns of unpolitics are found in the Council, Commission and European Parliament and are not the resort of fringe populist actors. Instead, core players in the EU institutions are using these ‘populist’ methods. In the short term these methods have proven very successful in furthering agricultural policy endurance. But mainstreaming unpolitics risks profoundly undermining both formal and informal EU decision-making processes and legitimacy.