Kurzfassung

The results of the European Parliament Election in 2014 are alarming for the European Union: We have seen Euroskeptic parties of different ends of the political spectrum as the right-wing UK Independence Party in Britain or the radical left SYRIZA in Greece as the big winners of the elections. We can observe, that Citizens’ permissive consensus towards the European Union has started to dissolve. The question of European Integration seems to become a real political issue and a new type of... The results of the European Parliament Election in 2014 are alarming for the European Union: We have seen Euroskeptic parties of different ends of the political spectrum as the right-wing UK Independence Party in Britain or the radical left SYRIZA in Greece as the big winners of the elections. We can observe, that Citizens’ permissive consensus towards the European Union has started to dissolve. The question of European Integration seems to become a real political issue and a new type of parties, which represent a Euroskeptic position, has evolved.

Against this background, our research project focuses on the role of the political parties in this evolution. We pose the question, if national parties today mobilize – if yes under which conditions and how – on EU integration and thereby foster the politicization of EU integration. First, we want to shed light on the strategic behavior of political parties by putting EU topics on the agenda looking at “issue traditionalists” (mainstream parties) and “issue entrepreneurs” (non-established parties). Second, we want to analyze which parties are successful in voicing their position in the media and what reaction this might force among other parties – especially looking at Euroskeptic parties as challengers to the established party system. By looking at the interplay between the party and the mass media agenda, we are able to study the evolution of issue politicization in the public sphere.

We use an international comparative study design including seven countries with lower and higher Euroskepticism (Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France, UK, Greece, and Portugal). We analyze political parties‘ strategic communication (including press releases as well as campaign material) and the coverage of two quality newspapers per country in the run-up to the 2014 EP elections. For two countries (Germany and Austria) we conduct a longitudinal design going back until 2008.» weiterlesen» einklappen