THE NEED FOR A EUROPEAN PUBLIC SPHERE

A political sphere can be defined as a space for communication between political actors and citizens for discussions on matters of common interest, particularly those related to the management of public affairs by a government. Social integration and political legitimacy are the main functions of a political sphere. From a democratic point of view, public debate is the single most important clue for the assessment of democratic quality, because the legitimacy of power holders can be tested in relation to affected interests . Public debate on matters of common interest in the public sphere involve three types of actors: decision makers (political institutions, political actors, public authorities) the addressees of decisions (the general public, citizens) and the media.

The formation of a European public sphere is considered to be one crucial factor for social and political integration in Europe. European public sphere should assure the flow of information about European political issues, public opinion formation and sufficient control over European politics. The extent and the form of the European political public sphere have an impact on the democratic quality of the European Union and the formation of a European public sphere could enhance the European Union’s democratic quality.

However, so far European political and economic integration is not accompanied by an equal level of Europeanisation of the public sphere.

The formation of a European public sphere is rather difficult. It is argued, that several barriers hamper the formation of a European public sphere: Socio-cultural barriers (e.g. diversity of European languages and cultural identities), barriers on the part of citizens (lack of interest in European politics), on the part of the media (e.g. focus on news values; lack of transnational collaboration) and on the part of the EU's political system (marginal possibilities for citizens participation; consensus orientation).

Yet there are initial signs of the formation of a European public sphere which may be located  in functional public spheres which consist of negotiation networks, comprising experts, functionaries and representatives of interest groups; in transnational communication networks of social movements; in some press and television media, which address a European elite audience; in a relatively high share of media attention to European issues in the quality press;   in sporadic transnational media attention to European political issues, which is driven by highlights on the European policy-agenda .

At the same time,  empirical analyses point out deficits of a European public sphere: emerging forms of a European public sphere are often limited to the participation of special interest groups (elites, experts, etc.) but do not comprise the general public; the over all media- and public attention for European issues remains low, compared to attention to national affairs; communication proceeds nationally isolated and transnational discourse remains static on a low level.

Today, there is hardly any consensus on an adequate normative conception of a European public sphere. Proposals differ strongly and several normative requirements have been made, comprising structural aspects (e.g. formation of a pan European media system), attention aspects (e.g. increasing media reporting on European affairs) and content aspects of European political communication (e.g. transnational discourse).