Tracing the Politicisation of the EU

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. Introduction: Towards a Multi-Faceted Approach to Politicisation in the EU Context

   Álvaro Oleart, Taru Haapala

   Abstract

   In recent years, internal European Union (EU) debates on migration, Brexit, the Eurozone, trade and the rule of law, among others, have focused on the legitimacy of the EU and the dissatisfaction of European citizens vis-à-vis the European project. The introduction to this book lays out the relevance of conceptual, empirical, and normative perspectives on EU politicisation, which has often been addressed by scholars in a rather negative light. Far from being a ‘descriptive’ and only ‘empirical’ approach, the introduction aims to re-conceptualise the understanding of EU politicisation by shifting the attention away from the traditional consensus-oriented understanding of European integration. Bringing together different disciplinary approaches, the introduction puts forward an innovative and politically aware attempt to conceive politicisation in a multi-faceted and heterogenous way. Lastly, we describe the narrative and design of the book, introducing each of the chapters that compose the three thematic clusters.

3. Politicisation of the EU as a Polity

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 2. Between Optimism and Pessimism: Rethinking EU Politicisation in Theory, Conceptualisation, and Research

      Claudia Wiesner

      Abstract

      The concept of politicisation is increasingly used and discussed in current theoretical and empirical research on democracy in general, and on the European Union (EU) in particular. But it is often left unclear, what exactly is meant and understood by politicisation in the EU context, how is politicisation theorised, conceptualised, and operationalised, and what are the opportunities and the limitations that are linked to the different respective definitions and understandings of politicisation. This chapter rethinks the theoretical background and the operationalisation of EU politicisation by (a) outlining and summing up crucial questions and key points that are related to the understanding and the usage of politicisation as a theoretical and empirical concept in the debate on the EU, and (b) to develop both theory and conceptualisation of EU politicisation further, based on the discussions of the EU referendum debate in France 2005 and the European Parliament (EP) elections in 2019. The chapter concludes by arguing that bottom-up politicisation needs to be better included into politicisation research, while moving towards a multi-stage and multi-level concept of politicisation.

   3. Chapter 3. Citizens’ ‘Permissive Consensus’ in European Integration Scholarship: Theoretical Reflections on EU Politicisation and the Democratic Deficit Discourse

      Elena García-Guitián

      Abstract

      The ‘permissive consensus’ discourse permeates the scholarly debate about the democratic legitimacy of the EU, the nature of European integration, and specific political decisions, such as treaty reforms and policy-making processes. This chapter argues that the academic literature on European integration has developed a narrative relating to the progressive politicisation of the EU, involving an assessment of the democratic quality derived from assumed public support and citizen involvement. First, it explores the concepts that are used to describe the politicisation/depoliticisation dichotomy and their link to the description of what is meant by the citizens’ ‘permissive consensus’, depicting a European project detached from citizens and manipulated by political elites. Second, it assesses this narrative on the democratic character of the EU, focusing on the use of these concepts in the scholarly literature to portray the origins of the Union, its institutional embodiments and policy-making processes (i.e. normal politics), and the poly-crisis period. The chapter concludes that for a more nuanced assessment of EU politicisation the standard description of the permissive consensus requires a more complex theoretical approach, focusing on the multilevel system of representation.

   4. Chapter 4. Politicisation as a Speech Act: A Repertoire for Analysing Politicisation in Parliamentary Plenary Debates

      Kari Palonen

      Abstract

      This chapter analyses the actual speech acts of politicisation among parliamentarians, which also makes it possible to set the current debates among European Union (EU) scholars in a wider context. My aim is to sketch a scheme for distinguishing different aspects of politicisation, referring to concepts of politics (sphere or activity and its specific aspects), to the politicisation of topics or persons, to its time dimensions (past, present, and future), to different activities of politicisation (adversaries, unintended changes, the actors themselves), as well as to opposing evaluations of politicisation. The data set consists of the plenary debates of the UK House of Commons, the (West) German Bundestag, and the European Parliament (EP), in all of which a great variety of both interpretations and evaluations of the speech acts of politicisation can be found.

   5. Chapter 5. The European Rescue of the Front National: From the Fringes Towards the Centre of National Politics Through EU Politicisation

      Niilo Kauppi

      Abstract

      The chapter argues that European Parliament (EP) elections are not second-order elections for political underdogs such as Front National (or UKIP). For them and similar non-cartel parties, the EP elections are first-order elections that have enabled political survival and provided a venue for growing influence in national politics. This chapter explores the politicising strategies and practices that have enabled the Front National to move from the margins to the centre of politics in the French political field through the use of European political and economic capital. The EP has provided the Front National with a life-saving power base that enabled accumulation of both political and economic capital and sustained presence in French national politics. Forty years after the first direct elections to the EP, the Front National is a key part of French political scene in its reformed form as Rassemblement National. To paraphrase Alan Milward, the success story of the Front National boils down to a European rescue of the French extreme right.

4. Social Media in the Politicisation of the EU

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 6. Parliamentary Rhetoric Meets the Twittersphere: Rethinking the Politicisation of European Public Debates with the Rise of Social Media

      Taru Haapala

      Abstract

      This chapter addresses the question of how the forms and rules of debating are transforming in the context of the politicisation of European public debates with the emergence of social media. Drawing from a political activity approach that considers parliamentary debates as the paradigm for other forms of debate, it discusses challenges posed by the dynamics between the overlapping of traditional and emerging forms of debate. As social media is shaping political discourse, the ideas of democracy and plurality of opinion have been globally challenged by anti-democratic movements. However, the ‘Twittersphere’ also offers ways to diversify issues on the European agenda, as was shown in the case of 2019 European elections, and can thus contribute to the strengthening of European democracy. The chapter argues that, while social media complements national parliamentary debates and can Europeanise public debates overall, the challenges to democracy remain, and they must be addressed through the consideration of procedures and rules of debate. The chapter also reflects on the legislative proposal of the European Commission regarding moderation of online platforms published in December 2020.

   3. Chapter 7. The Politicisation of the EU and the Making of a European Twittersphere: The Case of the Spitzenkandidaten Process

      Stergios Fotopoulos, Luciano Morganti

      Abstract

      Focusing on the notion of politicisation, this chapter explores to what extent the lead candidates process for the European Commission’s Presidency (Spitzenkandidaten) rendered the emergence of a European Twittersphere plausible. The empirical analysis provided here entails quantitative and qualitative elements on the Spitzenkandidaten process during the 2014 and 2019 European parliamentary elections: To what extent did the process become a trend on Twitter? On which issues did Twitter users focus during the campaign? To what extent did the lead candidates generate political contestation across member states? Which was the geographical distribution of Twitter users and tweets related to the process? Through which language did Twitter users mostly communicate? The findings further the discussion on the impact of social media on the democracy and the politicisation of the EU, as well as the establishment of an online European public sphere.

   4. Chapter 8. Framing the Future of Europe Debates on Twitter: The Personalisation of EU Politicisation in the 2019 EU Election Campaigns

      Luis Bouza García, Jorge Tuñón Navarro

      Abstract

      This chapter analyses the role of the European Commission President, national leaders, and transnational parties in setting the agenda of the 2019 European election campaigns. In particular, it discusses whether the personalisation of European politics is contributing to the transnational and national politicisation of the EU. It does so by analysing the impact and resonance of three national leaders’, Emmanuel Macron (France), Angela Merkel (Germany), and Pedro Sánchez (Spain), speeches on the transnational Future of Europe debate by combining qualitative (national leaders’ speeches and political party manifestos for the 2019) and quantitative sources (the impact of the speeches in the pan-European Twittersphere). The chapter conceives social media as a new kind of intermediary political communication sphere where specific but substantial communication exchanges happen. The results provide mixed confirmation for expectations about the personalisation of the debate. Whereas there is a clear intergovernmental focus on the best-known leaders (Merkel and Macron), this contrasts with the absence of personalisation of the conversations ahead of the 2019 elections as neither the national leaders nor the Spitzenkandidaten are central in the discussions.

5. EU Politicisation Narratives and Patterns

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 9. Patterns of Politicisation in the 2019 European Elections: Salience, Polarisation, and Conflict Over EU Integration in (Eastern/Western) Media Coverage

      Ana Andguladze, Jan Beyer, Ramona Coman, Julie Vander Meulen

      Abstract

      Over the last decades, EU integration has become the subject of increased public discussion, debate, and contestation, which is explained through different lenses in EU studies by liberal intergovernmentalists and post-functionalists. This chapter is a contribution to this debate as it seeks to shed light on patterns of politicisation over EU integration in the European public spheres. Through the analysis of 16 newspapers from seven Eastern (Hungary, Poland, Romania) and Western (Belgium, France, Germany, and Spain) EU member states, this chapter analyses the EU media coverage in the context of the 2019 European elections with a focus on salience, polarisation, and lines of conflict over EU integration. Scrutinising a set of 1127 articles, the analysis captures six lines of tensions—intergovernmental conflict, national vs. supranational, government vs. opposition, supporters of democracy vs. threats to democracy, supporters of immigration vs. anti-immigration, and integration vs. disintegration—whose intensity varies not only in the Eastern and Western newspapers, but also among them. While the conflicts opposing integration vs. disintegration and democracy vs. ‘illiberalism’ are common to the Eastern and Western newspapers analysed, although framed differently, the four other lines of conflict seem to be specific to the EU coverage in the Eastern newspapers. The article is conceived as an empirical test to theoretically bridge the concept of politicisation to the EU's theories of integration and types of conflict over European integration.

   3. Chapter 10. The Commission Takes the Lead? ‘Supranational Politicisation’ and Clashes of Narratives on Sovereignty in the ‘Future of Europe’ Debates

      Miruna Butnaru-Troncotă, Dragoș Ioniță

      Abstract

      During the recent crises within the European Union (EU), substantial dissonances between EU institutions led to severe conflicts among the governments of the member states and to strong anti-EU narratives, as well as provoking targeted attacks against the 2014–2019 Juncker Commission. By identifying the main features of politicisation discussed in the theoretical section, we aim to acquire a better understanding of how the process of consultation and public speeches on the ‘Future of Europe’ created new spaces for politicisation, and how the ‘battle of legitimising narratives’ unfolded between member state leaders and the EU. The chapter shows that notwithstanding the Commission's past attempts to facilitate such polarised debates in the European public sphere, Juncker’s initiative with the Future of Europe debate was more successful. The chapter stresses how the Commission tried to integrate various anti-EU narratives put forward by a group of ‘sovereignist’ leaders into a larger, transnational reflection process.

   4. Chapter 11. The European Commission’s Communication Strategy as a Response to Politicisation in Times of EU Contestation

      María-Isabel Soldevila, Julie Vander Meulen

      Abstract

      Although the EU has been the target of scepticism and criticism since its inception, this trend has had important milestones during the last three presidencies of the European Commission. While this has meant more contestation of the EU and its institutions, it also has implied an increased politicisation of EU issues. This has in turn forced EU institutions to react and take part in a conversation regarding the benefits and relevance of the European project. Here, we address the following research question: How has the European Commission responded to the increased politicisation of EU issues in its communication strategy? To answer this question, we investigate two aspects. On the one hand, we aim to briefly trace the evolution of the different communication strategies put forward by the European Commission during the last three presidencies (from 2004 to 2019), focusing more in depth on the Juncker Commission and the ‘political’ turn it claimed to have developed. On the other hand, we seek to understand how the European Commission has put this strategy in practice by looking at the 2019 #EUandMe Campaign as a case study to see how the ‘hearts and minds approach’ has been implemented, and how this could be interpreted as the Commission’s way of responding to increased EU politicisation by developing and upgrading its legitimation strategy.

   5. Chapter 12. Make Europe Great Again: The Politicising Pro-European Narrative of Emmanuel Macron in France

      Luis Bouza García, Álvaro Oleart

      Abstract

      The increasing politicisation of the EU in the last decade has further intertwined national and European politics. The progressive introduction of European issues into the national political debates has incentivised that national political leaders ‘use’ Europe in their political narratives when running for elections. One of the most salient political leaders that have emerged as unapologetically pro-European in this politicised context is Emmanuel Macron, former French finance minister and current French President since 2017. In order to contribute to analyse how ‘Europe’ is narrated in the current politicised environment, we analyse Emmanuel Macron’s discourse on Europe before and after his election as President. We will do so through a narrative analysis of documents (such as speeches, a public letter, and a media interview) in which Macron appealed not only to French citizens but to European citizens, from 2016 to 2019. Our findings suggest an appropriation of ‘Europe’ by Macron’s discourse, which, while attempting to increase the support for European integration, is laying the grounds for anyone that opposes Macron’s particular idea of ‘Europe’ to be understood as ‘anti-European’.

   6. Chapter 13. Epilogue: Tracing the Politicisation of the EU—A Research Agenda for Exploring the Politicising Strategies in the Future of Europe Debates

      Taru Haapala, Álvaro Oleart, Jan Beyer

      Abstract

      The epilogue reflects upon the contributions of the book, bridging their different ways of approaching, analysing, and interpreting EU politicisation. It synthesises the main results of each chapter in the three thematic clusters of the book. The book illustrates how many of the features in European politics that were intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic were already showing in the context of the 2019 European elections. In the epilogue, lessons are drawn for future research on EU politicisation as well as the Future of Europe debates. The epilogue also outlines a research agenda that opens avenues for interesting new dilemmas and research questions of how the EU becomes politicised, by whom, and with what potential empirical and normative implications.

6. Backmatter