Towards a european public sphere? Vertical and horizontal dimensions of europeanised political communication

In this paper, we develop a systematic approach to Europeanisation of the public sphere, distinguishing three forms of Europeanisation of public political communication: supranationally, vertically and horizontally. These forms materialise through communicative linkages between political actors of different geographical spheres (e.g., from the own country, other countries or the EU level) in national mass media. Based on a political claims analysis in seven policy fields for the year 2000, we determine the degree in which these forms of Europeanisation are actually present in the German press. Our findings challenge, at least partially, the wide-spread idea of a public sphere deficit in the European Union: Europeanisation of public political communication appears to vary considerably between policy fields, and in fields with a clear-cut transfer of competencies to the supranational level, public discourse in the mass media seems to follow suit.