A Third Way for Europe? Discourse, regulation and the European question inBritain

Recent developments within the regulation approach have highlighted the imp ortance of discourse in securing the conditions for the stabilisation of ne w modes of regulation. This paper considers the discursive construction in the UK of Britain's relationship to European integration. Despite claims th at the politics of the 'Third Way' offer an innovative and coherent framewo rk for New Labour's political strategy, the evidence suggests that discours es of national sovereignty and pragmatic economic national self-interest do minate, In conclusion it is suggested that the development of transnational discursive formations is a necessary precondition for the consolidation of regulatory forms and processes that break with previous nationally focused modes of regulation.