We Need to Talk About Europe. Parliamentary Communication of EU Affairs and the Media

It has been argued that national parliaments are in a unique position to contribute to making EU politics more democratic by communicating EU issues to their citizens. Yet we still know too little about whether they actually live up to these expectations. Moreover, most citizens experience politics mainly through the media. The first aim of the paper is therefore is to investigate how national parliaments fulfil their communication function in EU affairs. The second aim of the paper is then to explore whether parliamentary EU activities are covered by the national media and thus have a better chance of actually reaching the citizens. For the analysis, the paper draws on quantitative data covering parliamentary communication activities in seven member states between 2010 and 2013 as well as a quantitative content analysis of three newspapers in each member state over the same time period.