ABSTRACT
In a nutshell, Portugal’s EU trajectory reveals an important rupture in the mid-1990s as regards the perception of the country’s European vocation. The first period is characterized by a more defensive, nation-centric approach focusing on domestic socioeconomic development in its national dimension (de Vasconcelos 2000) and endorsing intergovernmentalism (de Meirelles 1992). In the process, domestic political realignments, growing maturity in EU-Portugal relations, and the EMU contributed to a different conceptualization of national interest through the lens of an active involvement in European integration (de Vasconcelos 2000).1
