The Visibility of the EU in the National Public Spheres in Times of Crisis and Austerity

© 2016 Policy Studies Organization We examine the visibility of the European Union (EU) in the national public spheres of nine European countries during the period 2008-14, inquiring whether the impact of the recent economic crisis and the austerity policies have advanced the presence of the EU, its member states, and European concerns, or not. Using political claims analysis, we map the visibility of collective actors in the main national newspapers of France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Despite the overall limited presence of the EU and European subjects, we find meaningful differences among countries. First, Germany's leading position conveying visibility to European claims, followed by Greece, Italy, and France. In contrast, negligible levels of visibility of the EU in the United Kingdom and Switzerland along with general low levels in the remaining selected countries, even in those most severely hit by the recent economic crisis and under EU surveillance. Related Articles in this Special Issue: Zamponi, Lorenzo, and Lorenzo Bosi. 2016. “Which Crisis? European Crisis and National Contexts in Public Discourse.” Politics & Policy 44 (3): 400–426. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12156/abstract . Lahusen, Christian, Maria Kousis, Johannes Kiess, and Maria Paschou. 2016. “Political Claims and Discourse Formations: A Comparative Account on Germany and Greece in the Eurozone Crisis.” Politics & Policy 44 (3): 525–552. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12162/abstract . Cinalli, Manlio, and Marco Giugni. 2016. “Collective Responses to the Economic Crisis in the Public Domain: Myth or Reality?” Politics & Policy 44 (3): 427–446. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12159/abstract . Related Media: de Vreese, Claes. 2014. “Understanding the Role of Mass Media and Interpersonal Discussion in Shaping Today's European Citizenship.” European Public Sphere Conference April 10-11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkCkFVCxIJs&feature=youtu.be . City University London. 2016. “Context Matters.” News. Arts & Culture. Series: Research Spotlight. Accessed on March 17, 2016. http://www.city.ac.uk/news/spotlight-on-research/context-matters .