Table Of ContentPALGRAVE STUDIES IN
EUROPEAN POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY
Tracing the Politicisation
of the EU
The Future of Europe Debates
Before and After the 2019 Elections
Edited by
Taru Haapala · Álvaro Oleart
Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology
Series Editors
Carlo Ruzza, School of International Studies, University of Trento,
Trento, Italy
Hans-Jörg Trenz, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola
Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy
Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology addresses contemporary
themes in the field of Political Sociology.Over recent years, attention has
turnedincreasinglytoprocessesofEuropeanizationandglobalizationand
the social and political spaces that are opened by them. These processes
comprise both institutional-constitutional change and new dynamics of
social transnationalism. Europeanization and globalization are also about
changingpowerrelationsastheyaffectpeople’slives,socialnetworksand
forms of mobility.
The Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology series addresses
linkages between regulation, institution building and the full range of
societal repercussions at local, regional, national, European and global
level, and will sharpen understanding of changing patterns of attitudes
and behaviours of individuals and groups, the political use of new rights
and opportunities by citizens, new conflict lines and coalitions, societal
interactions and networking, and shifting loyalties and solidarity within
and across the European space.
We welcome proposals from across the spectrum of Political Soci-
ology and Political Science, on dimensions of citizenship; political atti-
tudes and values; political communication and public spheres; states,
communities, governance structure and political institutions; forms of
politicalparticipation;populismandtheradicalright;anddemocracyand
democratization.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14630
·
Taru Haapala Álvaro Oleart
Editors
Tracing
the Politicisation
of the EU
The Future of Europe Debates Before and After
the 2019 Elections
Editors
Taru Haapala Álvaro Oleart
Department of Political Science and Department of Political Science
International Relations Maastricht University
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Maastricht, The Netherlands
Madrid, Spain
Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology
ISBN 978-3-030-82699-4 ISBN 978-3-030-82700-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82700-7
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Acknowledgements
Thisbookstartedtotakeitsshapeinthesummerof2019andwasfinally
completed in spring 2021. This period of time has been extremely rich
in events that could be interpreted as politicised. They encompassed the
2019Europeanelections,the(endofthe)Brexitnegotiations,theousting
ofUnitedStatesPresidentDonaldTrumpafterJoeBiden’svictoryinthe
2020presidentialelections,theinaugurationoftheVonderLeyenEuro-
pean Commission and the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak with the post-
ponement of the beginning of the Conference of the Future of Europe
debates. It has been a time full of quick turns provoking fascination from
a myriad of political and academic perspectives. Even though these two
years have not been without many challenges, the book was produced in
this intellectually inspiring environment.
We are, first of all, grateful to the Jean Monnet network
‘OpenEUdebate: Matching politics with policy’ (Jean Monnet—Erasmus
REF: 600465-EPP-1-2018-1-ES-EPPJMO-NETWORK), coordinated
byElenaGarcía-GuitiánattheUniversidadAutónomadeMadrid(2018–
2022), for the initiative and support given throughout this challenging
intellectual journey. The ‘OpenEUdebate’ network was also successful in
adapting to the ‘new normal’ of the Covid-19 pandemic. This included,
forexample,therecordingofaseriesoftenpodcastsentitled‘Europeafter
coronavirus’, in which we brought together experts from academia, civil
society, and politics on the effect of the pandemic on different scenarios
for the future of the European Union. Similarly, working on the book
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
continued in the form of two online workshops, on the 4th and 24th of
June 2020 and 10–11th February 2021. These workshops contributed
cruciallytoimprovingthequalityofthedifferentchaptersandthedesign
of the structure and narrative of the edited volume. We want to thank all
the contributors for their capacity of adapting to the demanding circum-
stances, both professional and personal. Thanks to Ramona Coman, Luis
BouzaGarcía,ElenaGarcía-Guitián,LucianoMorganti,MirunaButnaru-
Troncota˘,JanBeyer,JulieVanderMeulen,JorgeTuñónNavarro,Claudia
Wiesner, Kari Palonen, Ana Andguladze, Niilo Kauppi, Dragos Ionita˘,
, ,
María-Isabel Soldevila and Stergios Fotopoulos. We are also grateful to
Ben Crum and Simona Guerra for their academic support, as well as to
Noah Schmitt and Ian Connerty for their editorial help.
We would like to warmly thank the Palgrave Macmillan team for all
the support given throughout the development of the book. Our joint
adventure started during the 26th International Conference of Euro-
peanists, organised by the Council for European Studies at the Univer-
sidadCarlosIIIdeMadrid,thattookplaceon20–22June2019.During
those warm days we started cooking what eventually has become the
present edited volume. We thank Hans-Jörg Trenz and Carlo Ruzza,
editors of the Palgrave series on European political sociology, and Ambra
Finotello,Palgrave’sExecutiveEditor,fortheircriticaladviceandenthusi-
asticbackingeversincetheMadridconferenceinwhichwefirstdiscussed
thebook.Wewouldalsoliketoespeciallythanktheanonymousreviewers
for the excellent comments and suggestions, which have contributed to
the improvement of the quality of the book.
Lastly, we are grateful for the support of our home universities, the
UniversidadAutónoma de Madrid, the UniversitéLibre de Bruxelles and
Maastricht University—Studio Europa Maastricht.
Madrid and Brussels Taru Haapala
June 2021 Álvaro Oleart
Contents
1 Introduction: Towards a Multi-Faceted Approach
to Politicisation in the EU Context 1
Álvaro Oleart and Taru Haapala
Part I Politicisation of the EU as a Polity
2 Between Optimism and Pessimism: Rethinking
EU Politicisation in Theory, Conceptualisation,
and Research 21
Claudia Wiesner
3 Citizens’ ‘Permissive Consensus’ in European
Integration Scholarship: Theoretical Reflections
on EU Politicisation and the Democratic Deficit
Discourse 45
Elena García-Guitián
4 Politicisation as a Speech Act: A Repertoire
for Analysing Politicisation in Parliamentary Plenary
Debates 67
Kari Palonen
vii
viii CONTENTS
5 The European Rescue of the Front National: From
the Fringes Towards the Centre of National Politics
Through EU Politicisation 91
Niilo Kauppi
Part II Social Media in the Politicisation of the EU
6 Parliamentary Rhetoric Meets the Twittersphere:
Rethinking the Politicisation of European Public
Debates with the Rise of Social Media 113
Taru Haapala
7 The Politicisation of the EU and the Making
of a European Twittersphere: The Case
of the Spitzenkandidaten Process 139
Stergios Fotopoulos and Luciano Morganti
8 Framing the Future of Europe Debates on Twitter:
The Personalisation of EU Politicisation in the 2019
EU Election Campaigns 159
Luis Bouza García and Jorge Tuñón Navarro
Part III EU Politicisation Narratives and Patterns
9 Patterns of Politicisation in the 2019 European
Elections: Salience, Polarisation, and Conflict Over
EU Integration in (Eastern/Western) Media Coverage 187
Ana Andguladze, Jan Beyer, Ramona Coman,
and Julie Vander Meulen
10 The Commission Takes the Lead? ‘Supranational
Politicisation’ and Clashes of Narratives
on Sovereignty in the ‘Future of Europe’
Debates 217
Miruna Butnaru-Troncota˘ and Dragos Ionita˘
, ,
11 The European Commission’s Communication
Strategy as a Response to Politicisation in Times
of EU Contestation 243
María-Isabel Soldevila and Julie Vander Meulen
CONTENTS ix
12 Make Europe Great Again: The Politicising
Pro-European Narrative of Emmanuel Macron
in France 271
Luis Bouza García and Álvaro Oleart
13 Epilogue: Tracing the Politicisation
of the EU—A Research Agenda for Exploring
the Politicising Strategies in the Future of Europe
Debates 295
Taru Haapala, Álvaro Oleart, and Jan Beyer
Index 307
