The European public sphere refers to the public sphere where ideas and information are exchanged by citizens of European societies that can influence the European political life (especially that of the European Union). It is to have an "arena for EU-wide public discourse".
The European public sphere is incomplete and mostly consists of several attempts to create arenas for EU-wide public discourse. Proponents of the debate around the EU's democratic deficit considered the lack of European public sphere as one of the reasons behind this deficit. A fully-fledged European public sphere would provide citizens with the necessary information to participate in the political life of the EU, enable them to scrutinize and discuss political actions and to feed the development of the European citizenship.
Definition
The public sphere is defined by Jürgen Habermas as a space "made up of private people gathered together as a public and articulating the needs of society with the state".Jürgen Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society (Cambridge Massachusetts: The MIT Press, p. 162, 1989). Translation by Thomas Burger from the original German, published in 1962. This public space allows for different opinions to be expressed, problems to be discussed and collective solutions to be developed. The public sphere is a place of debates that Silke Adam identifies as the "link between politicians and citizens, which can be strengthened by the media"Adam Silke, "European public sphere", in Mazzoleni et al (eds), International Encyclopedia of Political Communication. (2015). New York: Wiley.
The ideology behind the public sphere theory is that governments' actions, and their legitimacy, come from the views expressed in the public sphere.Sevla Benhabib, "Models of Public Space", in Craig Calhoun (eds), Habermas and the Public Sphere (1992): 87. Cambridge Massachusetts: MIT Press. The discussions around this theory include the structure of the public sphere, the role of mass media, and what influence the public sphere has over political action and social life. Theorists of the European integration point out toward a democratic deficit within the EU, that is the gap that lies between the European institutions and the general public.Giandomenico Majone, "'Europe's Democratic Deficit': the Question of Standards", European Law Journal, 4 (1), (1998): 5-28. They argue that the democratic void is partly due to the absence of a political community defined by a shared European identity (i.e., a common public sphere).
A shifting concept
According to Corinne Doria, the European public sphere and its characteristic have been the subject of many debates since the 1950s and the beginning of the European integration. It has been considered as having always existed, currently being under formation or impossible to achieve.Corinne Doria, "Public Sphere and the European Project," Encyclopédie d'histoire numérique de l'Europe [online], published on 22/06/20 and accessed on 05/04/2022 Those who argue that the European public sphere has been in construction since the 1950s support their thesis by referring to the constant European integration with the elaboration of the single market, which is being more and more integrated, the successive enlargements, the increased given space to European news in national media, and the Eurovision.Robert Frank, Hartmut Kaelble, Marie-Françoise Lévy et al., Building a European public sphere: from the 1950s to the Present (Berlin: Peter Lang, 2010).
According to that idea, Doria suggests that the European public sphere is not a state per se but a process and only when this process is completed, European integration will be achieved as well. However, as she goes on, four approaches are opposing in the debate when it comes to the creation of a European public sphere. The first approach is that European public sphere has existed before, since the Middle Ages, in the form of communication networks between European scholars, artists, or diplomats. The second approach is that it has never existed and can only exist in the limitations of the nation-states. The third approach is that it has not existed but will exist eventually. The final approach is that it does not exist, and because of lack of necessary preconditions such as the use of common language, it will never exist.
A panel of experts chaired by Hakan G. Sicakkan and Slavko Splichal reflected on the four mainstream models to explain the formation of a European public sphere".The European Consortium for Political Research, panel on "New Perspectives on the European Public Sphere" (22-25 August 2018), accessed on the 01/04/2022 Those models are:
Europeanization of national public spheres: national public spheres are progressively increasing the share of European topics that are discussed.Caroline de la Porte and Arjen Van Dalen, "Europeanization of national public spheres? Cross-national media debates about the European Union's socio-economic strategy," European Politics and Society, 17 (3), (2016): 279-293 Domestication of Europe: absorption of Europe at the domestic level. It is the adaptation of European topics within the domestic public sphere.Katrin Auel and Guido Tiemann, Europeanising European Public Spheres (Brussels: Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament, 2013): 20 Expanding overlaps between national public spheres. Increasing interconnectedness between national public spheres. According to them, these four models show that national public spheres will gradually diminish and be replaced by a pan-European public sphere through one of those four process. However, they find that the dominant model is the one supporting the Europeanization of national public spheres, in line with Doria's findings.
The role of media
In his theory, Jürgen Habermas argues that the public sphere requires "specific means for transmitting information and influencing those who receive it"Jürgen Habermas, "The Public Sphere," in Stephen E. Bronner and Douglas Kellner (eds.), Critical theory and Society: A Reader (New York: Routledge, 1989): 136-142. In other words, media are essential to constitute and maintain a public sphere. For instance, a study by S. Edgerly et al. shows that new mass media such as social networks like YouTube can be used as platform to support a public sphere.Jacob Groshek and Ahmed Al-Rawi, "Anti-Austerity in the Euro Crisis: Modeling Protest With Online-Mobile-Social Media Usage, Users, and Content", International Journal of Communication, n°9 (January 2015): 3280-3303. Thanks to the wide range of voices which can be expressed, its ability to reach out to the masses, to propose social and political contents, YouTube can be viewed as a relevant online space for public discussion.
A 2015 study by Jaco Groshek and Ahmed Al-Rawi supports these findings.Jürgen Gerhards, "Westeuropaische Integration und die Schwiergkeiten der Enstehung einer europaïschen Offentlichkeit", Zietschrift für Soziologie, 22 (1993): 99. By analyzing online protests against austerity measures during the European economic crisis, they conclude that with the movements being transnational, a form of European public sphere appeared for a period of time. This study showed a growing interest for European issues, even if it's brief and on specific topics. For J. Gerhards, this growing interest framed in a European perspective rather than a national one is crucial for the formation of a European public sphere.
However, one of the many issues the idea of a European public sphere is facing is its elitism. As argued by Adam Silke, only the people interested in the EU — mostly people educated and already familiar with the complexity of the EU — will use these media.Michael Brüggemann and Hagen Schulz-Forberg, "Becoming Pan-European? Transnational Media and the European Public Sphere," The International Communication Gazette, 71(8), (2009): 693-712 He states that while national public opinions are more Europeanized today, it is mostly true for elites. Consequently, Michael Brüggeman and Hagen Schulz-Forberg find that the audience of transnational media (such as Arte) in Europe is small but influential. This leaves the question to whether this audience could help fill the gap between the EU and European citizens to create a European public sphere. This could be achieved in two different but complementary ways: the Europeanization of national media and the development of transnational media.
Development of transnational media
Brüggeman and Schulz-Forberg argue that pan-regional media are the type of transnational media that can contribute the most to a European public sphere. One example is Euronews which has an increasing audience, broadcasting in thirteen different languages and reaching 400 million households in 155 countries. Another example is the website EurActiv.com which discusses about European issues. But it not considered as well known outside of people already familiar with said issues.
Europeanization of national media
This refers to the increasing coverage of European issues within national public spheres. This raises the question to whether or not national media have increased the share of EU news in their coverage over time. For instance, in 2016, authors have analyzed the content of various media in EU countries and found that national media attention for the EU's growth and jobs strategy is limited and that it doesn't increase over time.Maria Trif and Doug Imig, "Demanding to be heard: Social movements and the European public sphere", University of Memphis, Hooks Institute and Political Science, (July 2003): 20. However, they also emphasized transnational dimensions in the coverage as countries reference to each other in a benchmarking spirit.
They concluded that media coverage of the EU4s socio-economic strategy is Europeanized but found that the debate is only made by and for people already interested in the EU. They also drew a lesson for the European public sphere: the EU related dimensions are often dropped by national media which frame information according to national concerns.
Pan-European social movements and protests
Inside a proper public sphere, citizens can use the repertoire of protests and political actions to voice their concerns regarding political actions. In the case of the European public sphere, European citizens should be able to address their concerns about the European integration. In their paper, Maria Trif and Doug Imig argue that the development of a "realm of contentious political engagement with European policies appears to be part of the process of building Europe".Tim Smedley, "TTIP: what does the transatlantic trade deal mean for renewable energy?", The Guardian, August 5, 2015 They find that a broad range of actors (NGOs, trade unions, federations of workers and/or companies) use the repertoire of contentious politics to voice their demands. This can be viewed as the temporary establishment of a pan-European public sphere. However, the life of these European public spaces only lasts as long as the protest does.