The EU as a ‘Framing Actor’: Reflections on Media Debates about EU Foreign Policy*

Kratochvíl, Petr; Cibulková, Petra; Beník, Michal

doi:10.1111/j.1468-5965.2010.02122.x

Cited by 26 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…Third, the appearance of European issues and discussion that concern Europe in various public debates within the EU has been presented as indicative for the formation of a European public sphere. This perspective is widely shared by all the four books in question and the broader literature (Cerutti, 2010; Fraser, 2007; Gripsrud and Weibull, 2010; Koçan, 2008; Kratochvíl et al ., 2011; Linklater, 2007; Lucarelli et al ., 2010; Telo, 2010). According to Koopmans and Statham (2010), theoretically this approach sustains the view that the EPS is the result of the overlap between various national public spheres which present different degrees of Europeanisation.…”

Section: Definitionmentioning

confidence: 88%

The European Public Sphere: Myth, Reality or Aspiration?

Nitoiu

2012

Political Studies Review

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The discussion about the public sphere only began to have significant relevance within the setting of the European Union in the middle of the 1990s when a growing degree of attention was directed towards European integration and the role of national and transnational media in providing thrust for it. Since then, the notion of the public sphere has been seen as a central feature of European democracies, shaping the coherence of political systems and decisionmaking processes. There has also been a tendency in the literature to perceive the European public sphere (EPS) as having positive effects on the EU by endowing it with legitimacy and providing a space where its institutions and leaders can be made more transparent and accountable.What is disputed throughout this scholarship is the possibility of creating an overarching European public sphere that would act as a transnational discursive space uniting various communication fluxes and actors from all strata of society. However, the answers provided by scholars for this puzzle are at most ambiguous or undecided and seem to be torn between viewing the EPS as aspiration, myth or reality.The discussion regarding the public sphere only began to have significant relevance within the setting of the European Union in the middle of the 1990s when a growing degree of attention was directed towards European integration and the role of national and transnational media in providing thrust for it (Curran Van de Steeg, 2002). Since then, the notion of the public sphere has been seen as a central feature of European democracies, shaping the coherence of political systems and decision-making processes. Within the transnational space fostered by the European Union, scholarspolitical theorists, sociologists and political scientists -have argued that the emergence or presence of a coherent and unified public sphere would create various avenues through which citizens could have their voices heard by the Union's decision makers. This aspiration has been based on the assumption that equal and open access to public debate fostered by a European public sphere (EPS) could enhance the EU's transnational democracy and further its collective identity formation processes. Thus, contestation through public debate within the EPS could compel the political authority to explain and justify its actions and policies towards the public.

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Section: Definitionmentioning

confidence: 88%

The European Public Sphere: Myth, Reality or Aspiration?

Nitoiu

2012

Political Studies Review

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“…6. Nonetheless, a few media analyses (Meyer, 2010;Risse, 2010a;Kratochví, Cibulková, and Beník, 2011) have scratched the surface of the EU's foreign policy, without any implication for its democratic legitimacy. For example, in his study of the way German and British newspapers frame the foreign policy of the EU, Meyer (2010, p. 182) concludes that both national public spheres increasingly tend to view the EU as having an important presence in the international arena.…”

Section: Implications For the Study Of Eu Foreign Policy And Future Rmentioning

confidence: 98%

The EU Foreign Policy Analysis

Nitoiu¹

2015

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From democratization to terrorism, economic development to conflict resolution, global political dynamics are affected by the increasing pervasiveness and influence of communication media. This series examines the participants and their tools, their strategies and their impact. It offers a mix of comparative and tightly focused analyses that bridge the various elements of communication and political science included in the field of international studies. Particular emphasis is placed on topics related to the rapidly changing communication environment that is being shaped by new technologies and new political realities. This is the evolving world of international political communication.

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“…It allows identifying areas in which the EU can act as a corporate actor with immediate effects on third parties irrespective of the latter's attitudes toward the EU, which are presumably the most relevant for the exploration of EU great power politics. Thus, it ignores more indirect forms of EU influence on international politics, for example its shaping of Member States' foreign policies as a ‘framing actor’ (Kratochvíl et al , ). Moreover, the concept is more focused than widely applied criteria for identifying EU actorness in international relations.…”

Section: How the Eu Can Act As A Great Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…447–452; Wagner, ). Others emphasize that the institutional framework of the CFSP shapes Member States' foreign policies (Howorth, ; Kratochvíl et al , ), while implicitly agreeing that the EU's own high‐politics action capabilities remain sharply limited. In contrast, we demonstrate how the EU's ample action capabilities based upon its communitarized policies can make it a great power in its own right.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Union as an Inadvertent Great Power: EU Actorness and the Ukraine Crisis

Gehring

Urbanski

Oberthür

2017

J of Common Market Studies

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We examine how the EU can act as a great power in its own right even in the absence of military capability and how its institutional structure conditions this ability. We first theorize EU great power politics. Based on theories of corporate action, the EU constitutes a strong market power in its own right and a weak security power. While it is institutionally ill‐equipped to purposefully mobilize its market power to pursue high‐politics goals, its communitarized external relations may inadvertently challenge important security interests of other great powers. Second, we show that the EU acted as an inadvertent great power vis‐à‐vis Russia in its Ukraine policy which was primarily driven by the supranational decision‐making apparatus and low‐politics considerations, but engendered a bipolar power struggle with Russia over Ukraine. The risks inherent in EU inadvertent great power politics are deeply engrained in the EU's institutional structure and therefore difficult to mitigate.

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The EU as a ‘Framing Actor’: Reflections on Media Debates about EU Foreign Policy*

Cited by 26 publications

References 28 publications

The European Public Sphere: Myth, Reality or Aspiration?

The European Public Sphere: Myth, Reality or Aspiration?

The EU Foreign Policy Analysis

The European Union as an Inadvertent Great Power: EU Actorness and the Ukraine Crisis

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