What Europe? Researching Consequences of a Diverse Europeanization of National Public Spheres

The European Union is currently facing at least five crises that overlap and fuel one another (Soros, 2015): the euro crisis, Grexit, Brexit, the migration crisis and Ukraine. The Union is torn by historically accumulated differences and discursively reinforced narratives of division such as North vs. South, East vs. West, eurozone vs. non-eurozone countries, creditor vs. debtor countries, arrival vs. destination countries. In this context, negative attitudes towards the EU have amplified among citizens and the media, which has led to a return to narratives of national identity and sovereignty in national public spheres, both in old and new member states. Not surprisingly, many Eurosceptic (even anti-EU) voices have gained substantial power by proclaiming EU’s lack of democratic legitimacy and the inefficiency and unaccountability of the decision-making process. This Section aims to examine and stimulate scholarly debate over the impact and the effects that the EU crises and their related narratives have on the Europeanization of national public spheres and on the consolidation of a European public sphere. An analysis of the Europeanization of communication in the EU is particularly promising now since the consolidation of a European public sphere is closely linked to the assessment EU’s democratic performance. Europeanization of national public spheres refers to the presence and salience of the EU and of the EU-related topics in national public spheres (Trenz, 2010; Risse, 2010; Koopmans & Statham, 2010). It refers to the gradual integration of the EU (actors, institutions, policies, etc.) in national public spheres, and to the increasing synchronization of national news with those in other European countries based on a ‘commonality of issues’ (Risse, 2003; 2010) that links them thematically. The level of Europeanization can be measured by taking into account both vertical (focusing on EU issues) and horizontal (presence of issues on other European actors or countries) dimensions (Koopmans & Erbe, 2004; Koopmans & Statham, 2010). Media coverage of the EU has increased in times of crisis, which might translate into a substantial degree of both vertical and horizontal Europeanization. However, the high degree of Europeanization of national public spheres, contrary to expectations, has led to polarization and contestation. There are different versions of Europe entertained in the public sphere by the 28 actors of EU communication. What they communicate about Europe and how they communicate it may influence decisively the future of the European project. This Section seeks to provide an invaluable opportunity for interdisciplinary dialogue and invites contributions on the impact of recent EU crises (economic, Ukraine, migration, etc.) on the Europeanization of national public spheres. We also welcome papers that address the mutual and intertwined effects of Europeanization on identity and citizenship policies as well as on the consolidation and diversification of populist and Eurosceptic attitudes. The Section comprises three Panels organized around interconnected topics in an attempt to contribute valuable insights to the scholarly work on Europeanization of communication: Panel 1: Making sense of Europeanization in Central and Eastern European countries; Panel 2: Populism and the Europeanization of political competition; Panel 3: Effects of Europeanization: Media, Identity, and Citizenship As an indication of the salience and timeliness of the Section topic, we have already received suggestions for papers on the Europeanization of CEE (Varela, Coruna University, Spain), the East/ West divide (Bârgăoanu & Negrea-Busuioc, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania) the Ukraine crisis (Nitoiu, LSE, UK), the refugee crisis (Radu, Durach & Udrea, Center for EU Communication Studies, Romania) the Europeanization of Turkish media (Toker, Yasar University, Turkey), populism and Euroscepticism in Poland (Fomina, Polish Academy of Sciences), EU identity (Golob & Makarovic, School of Advanced Social Studies, Slovenia). Chair: dr. Wieger Bakker Dr. Wieger Bakker is director of the undergraduate school of the Utrecht University School of Governance and was recently appointed as professor of ‘Quality and Innovation of Society Oriented Higher Education’ at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance. Trained as a sociologist in public policy and public administration, he did research in the field of Education and of Development Cooperation, with a focus on tensions in policy making between rationality and power and between plan and practice. Currently he is participating in a FP-7 program on Barriers for European Citizenship (www.bEUcitizenship.eu). In this project his research focuses on education for European citizenship and on future scenario’s for European citizenship. See also: http://www.uu.nl/leg/staff/WEBakker/0 Co-chair: dr. Alina Bârgăoanu Dr. Alina Bârgăoanu is Professor and Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romanian School of Governance), Bucharest, Romania. She is the holder of the Jean Monnet Chair „EU Communication and the Public Sphere” (2013 - 2016) and the chair of the ECREA TWG on Communication and the European Public Sphere. Between 2008 and 2011, she was the academic coordinator of the Jean Monnet Module „Communicating Europe. Policies for Increasing EU’s Visibility Among Member States”. Dr. Bârgăoanu is author, co-author and editor of 12 books (latest book is titled United by or Against Euroscepticism. An Assessment of Public Attitudes towards Europe in the Context of the Crisis (2015), Cambridge Scholars Publishing) and of more than 40 articles, studies and chapters in collective volumes on the crisis of the European Union, Euroscepticism, EU communication policy, European Public Sphere, EU Regional and Cohesion Policy.