Europe as Contentious Issue in National Public Spheres - The Politicisation of the Debate on EU Integration

Our study focuses on the cleavages of European public sphere. We start out from the idea that Europe has always been a contentious issue in national public debate we ask whether and to what degree national mass media refer to a European cleavage and which actors succeed in taking a position on this issue in the media. We aim to clarify the conditions that determine why debates in national publics differ despite common European policies in Brussels. Our empirical study is based on issue specific debates with a European reference in 14 quality newspapers in Germany, France, The United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain. Our findings confirm that the European cleavage,integration vs. demarcation" is clearly visible and that the supporters of European integration dominate public debate in all countries. The more detailed analysis shows however that the national publics differ regarding the connotations and positions taken on the cleavage. Furthermore, we find that different actors did profit from the conflict on European Integration across countries. Yet, their political success in terms of public attention is not at all a safe bet.