Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. Introduction to the Analysis of the Pan-European Debate Surrounding the TTIP Negotiations

   Alvaro Oleart

   Abstract

   There is an academic agreement regarding the EU’s growing politicisation, particularly since the Maastricht Treaty in the early 1990s and the debates surrounding the European Constitutional Treaty (Statham & Trenz, 2013a, 2013b). However, there is an academic disagreement on the public debate consequences of EU politicisation, and whether it can lead to the rise of nationalist rhetoric or in fact prevent it. Hooghe and Marks (2009) famously argued that the EU’s politicisation leads European integration from a ‘permissive consensus’ to a ‘constraining dissensus’, in terms of an increased political cost of EU decision-making due to the structural opposition of cosmopolitan and nationalist groups, given nationalist and ‘Eurosceptic’ actors’ increasing resonance in the public sphere. This first chapter introduces the theoretical approach of the book, questioning certain elements of the ‘constraining dissensus’ hypothesis, already outlining the rationale by which politicisation might lead towards an ‘empowering dissensus’ for European integration (Bouza & Oleart, 2018). It also explains the research design on which the book is based and its main case, the public debate surrounding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations in Spain, France and the UK.

3. Chapter 2. An Agonistic Approach to the Europeanisation of Public Spheres: Matching ‘Policy with Politics’

   Alvaro Oleart

   Abstract

   The chapter engages with the literature on the European public sphere and the Europeanisation of national public spheres, including the normative implications in regard to the democratic legitimacy of the EU (Schmidt, 2013). The chapter argues that the European public sphere literature often overlooks the role of conflict in the understanding of the public sphere, a gap that has been addressed through a hybrid conceptualisation of the public sphere, combining a typically Habermasian deliberative approach with Chantal Mouffe’s ‘agonistics’. The chapter also deals with the ideational mechanisms at play in the politicisation of EU affairs. Based on the literature on EU politicisation, the section describes the different types of Europeanisation in regard to the EU depending on the ideas that structure conflict, distinguishing between agonistic and antagonistic politicisation. The different types of Europeanisation and politicisation are then discussed in terms of the democratic legitimacy of the EU, and its implications for the future of European integration.

4. Chapter 3. A Media-Centred Approach to Analyse the Politicisation and Europeanisation of TTIP

   Alvaro Oleart

   Abstract

   The chapter first presents the content and origin of the TTIP negotiations, the policy dossier that triggered the interesting transnational public debate that constitutes the subject of study of this book. Second, the chapter introduces the analytical and methodological framework of the book, and why the main empirical focus of the analysis is focused on the news media. The concept of framing is presented, conceptualising frames as an analytical category that is to be applied in the empirical analysis, as well as why TTIP is a good case to research the Europeanisation and politicisation of EU politics. A concrete set of frames and visual categories is also introduced, an important step insofar the empirical results presented in the following chapters refer to them.

5. Chapter 4. Framing TTIP in Spain

   Alvaro Oleart

   Abstract

   The chapter describes the Spanish debate on TTIP in three sections. First, the historical framing of Europe and European integration in the Spanish public sphere is described. The salience of TTIP in the Spanish public sphere was considerably high compared to most other EU issues, which are generally covered as foreign affairs or EU-level affairs from a ‘permissive consensus’ point of view. The framing analysis is then described in three subsections: the first is an overview of the Spanish TTIP debate, and the next two describe two chronological periods that have been identified in the media content analysis. Finally, the historical framing of ‘Europe’ in the Spanish public sphere is connected to the Spanish debate on TTIP, with reflections upon how surprising it has been, and what type of politicisation of the EU can we expect in the future in Spain.

6. Chapter 5. Framing TTIP in France

   Alvaro Oleart

   Abstract

   This chapter describes the French TTIP debate in three sections. First, the historical framing of Europe and European integration in the French public sphere is described. Second, the framing analysis is put forward, describing which frames circulated in the French public sphere on TTIP, and how they evolved over time. As the previous chapter, this section combines the media content analysis with interview excerpts. The framing analysis is described in three subsections: the first is an overview of the French TTIP debate, and the next two describe two chronological periods that have been identified in the media content analysis. Finally, the historical framing of ‘Europe’ in the French public sphere is connected to the French debate on TTIP, with reflections upon how surprising it has been, and how ‘Europe’ is increasingly part of the national political discourse, thus contributing to further intertwine European and national politics.

7. Chapter 6. Framing TTIP in the UK

   Alvaro Oleart

   Abstract

   The chapter describes the British debate on TTIP in three sections. First, a summary of the historical relationship of the United Kingdom (UK) with European integration is described, highlighting the traditionally antagonistic politicisation that has taken place in the British public sphere, best illustrated by the 2016 Brexit referendum. The framing analysis is then described in three subsections: the first is an overview of the British TTIP debate, and the next two describe two chronological periods that have been identified in the media content analysis. Finally, the British public sphere’s historical antagonistic framing of ‘Europe’ is connected to the TTIP debate, contextualising the empirical analysis and reflecting upon its relation to the Brexit debate.

8. Chapter 7. Framing TTIP Across the Spanish, French and British Public Spheres: The Bursting of the Brussels Bubble

   Alvaro Oleart

   Abstract

   This chapter transversally analyses the media coverage of the TTIP negotiations across countries, and will put forward the political implications that the findings have for European integration. First, the chapter reproduces the analysis conducted on each of the national public spheres, but from a transnational point of view, across the three countries analysed in the previous chapters, Spain, France and the UK. The second section reflects upon the framing analysis of the national public spheres, attempting to explain why an episodic European public sphere emerged around TTIP, analysing the process that led towards the bursting of the Brussels Bubble through the agency of political entrepreneurs, who were able to contest the executive actors’ frames in different countries at the same time and make their voice heard across transnationally across the national public spheres.

9. Chapter 8. The Transnational TTIP Debate: Politicisation Empowers Further European Integration

   Alvaro Oleart

   Abstract

   This chapter first lays out the contribution to the literature of the book, its shortcomings, and avenues for further research, and leads to a summary of the central theoretical argument of the book, which has both normative and empirical implications. Second, the chapter addresses the potential great transformation in terms of the EU policy framework as a consequence of debates such as the one on TTIP, and the COVID‑19 crisis. Third, the chapter addresses what sort of European integration is agonistic politicisation really empowering, and how the argument for a more federal European integration relates to the EU’s response to the COVID‑19 pandemic. In light of the TTIP debate, but also the discussions in the aftermath of the global pandemic COVID‑19, the last section connects the rising European public sphere with the administrative power, given the institutional anchoring of any public sphere, arguing that the politicisation of the EU not only does not constrain further European integration, but actually empowers it. The normalisation of the EU as a political arena requires institutional changes on the long term that match the increasing transnational flow of ideas with a more federal integration at the level of institutions. Demands for a different EU or ‘Another Europe is Possible’ reinforce rather than hinder the legitimacy of the EU and the European integration process.

10. Backmatter