Whose project is it? Media debates on the ratification of the EU Constitutional Treaty

Abstract

This article explores the contentiousness of European integration in the process of constitution-making. A public sphere perspective is introduced which relates the legitimacy of the emerging EU polity to the constraining and/or enabling context of mass media communication. Starting from an outline of constitutional claims-making in quality newspapers in France and Germany between 2001 and 2005, the article focuses on ratification as a period of intense politicization of EU constitutional affairs. In spite of high media salience, the data indicate only few instances of inter-discursive exchanges across borders. The French referendum had a clear effect on domesticating constitutional contention in France, and became a substitute for raising the constitutional issue in German newspapers, notwithstanding the lack of domestic contention. In both countries perceptions of legitimacy were primarily based on notions of the EU as a problem-solving arrangement with few references to common values and democracy.