The European Commission’s Communication Strategy in Times of EU Contestation

Although the EU has always been the target of skepticism and criticism, it would appear that this trend has increased further in the last decade, since the beginning of the economic crisis. While this means more contestation of the EU and its institutions, it also means increased politicization around EU issues, and some even argue that it has furthered the phenomenon of Europeanisation. This has in turn forced the institutions of the EU to stand up for themselves and take part in a conversation regarding the benefits and relevance of the European project. Our interest lies in how the European Commission has reacted to EU contestation, or in other words: How has the European Commission responded to the increased politicization of EU issues in its Communication Strategy? In order to answer this question, we investigate two aspects. On the one hand, we try to identify the rhetorical techniques used to put their arguments forward; what we call the ‘hearts & minds’ approach. On the other hand, we seek to analyze which arguments and images the European Commission uses to bolster its image as well as that of the European Union. To do so we analyze documents published during the Juncker Commission pertaining to the European Commission’s Communication Strategy, as well as the seven short films of the 2019 EU and Me Campaign to see how these strategies have actually been put to practice.