While it symbolized the failure of national politicians, the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by the French and Dutch citizens in the referendum of Spring 2005 left the European establishment under the shock: it was evident that both the continuous strengthening of the European Parliament's powers and the Commission's strategy for a “good governance” were unable to provide a satisfactory answer to the persistent questioning of the EU's legitimacy. In the aftermath of the referendum, everyone seemed to expect a providential – but unfortunately not foreseen - “plan B”, the Commission launched its “Plan D for democracy, dialogue and debate” with the extremely bold ambition to “clarify, deepen and legitimize a new consensus on Europe” . Plan D is actually part of a “post-referendum initiative package” including an action plan for reorganizing the communication activities within the Commission , as well as a consultation process for the launch of a new EU communication policy strategy . Thus, the Commission's approach to the new acceptance crisis proves for a clear focus on communication, which is significant.
[...] An Open Debate on the Commission White Paper On a European Communication Policy” Report from ECAS, available at http://www.ecas.org/file_uploads/1032.pdf Speech by A. Carapelli, Deputy head of Commissioner Wallström's Cabinet, at the Seminar constitutional Treaty and beyond: strategies for next steps of deepening and widening” organized by Pr. W. Wessels, College of Europe Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Commission's contribution to the period of reflection and beyond: Plan-D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate”, COM (2005) available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/commission_barroso/wallstrom/pdf/communication_pla nD_en.pdf European Commission, “Action plan to improve communicating Europe by the Commission” available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/communication/pdf/communication_com_en.pdf European Commission, “White paper on an European Communication Policy”, COM(2006) available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/communication_white_paper/doc/white_paper_en.pdf Speech by A. [...]
[...] W. Wessels, College of Europe European Commission, “White paper on a European Communication Policy”, COM(2006) p Idem, p Idem, p. 5-6. Idem. Mrs Carapelli, College of Europe European Commission, “White paper on an European Communication Policy”, COM(2006) p European Commission, “White Paper on European Governance”, COM(2001) p Idem, p and 11. Idem, p Idem, p Fritz Scharpf, Governing in Europe, Effective and democratic?, Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York p Marcus Höreth, No way out for the beast ? [...]
[...] Thus, the Commission's approach to the new acceptance crisis proves for a clear focus on communication, which is significant. This piece of work shall be a personnal more than extensively documented analysis of the Commission's White Paper on a European Communication Policy, which was issued only about two months ago. The main argument is that this White Paper accounts for a main conceptual shift in the Commission's views about the best way of legitimizing the EU. Firstly, I will analyse how the White Paper assesses its own communication strategy in the past. [...]
[...] However, the Commissioner for Communication has clearly underlined the need for a long-term commitment similarly to the mobilization around the Single Market project[30]. Whether M. Wallström's White Paper is nothing more than a communication trick, an attempt towards pro-active identity-building that is doomed to failure or the first stone of a European public sphere remains so far uncertain. BIBLIOGRAPHY Commission documents Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Commission's contribution to the period of reflection and beyond: Plan-D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate”, COM (2005) available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/commission_barroso/wallstrom/pdf/communication_p lanD_en.pdf European Commission, “Action plan to improve communicating Europe by the Commission” available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/communication/pdf/communication_com_en.pdf European Commission, “White paper on an European Communication Policy”, COM(2006) available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/communication_white_paper/doc/white_paper_en.pdf Books SCHARPF Fritz, Governing in Europe, Effective and democratic?, Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York Journal articles BEETHAM David and LORD Christopher, Legitimacy and the European Union, Longman, London and New York p HERITIER Adrienne, “Composite democracy in Europe: the role of transparency and access to information” in Journal of European Public Policy, Vol No pp 269-82. [...]
[...] The coming of age of a European public sphere would certainly make the EU a more federal kind of polity. And, indeed, when the Commission asserts that the EU is expected to “offer prosperity, solidarity, and security” and must at the same time work at the emergence of a public sphere by means of civic education, the media, and political parties, one may wonder if it is not a very state-like mission statement. Therefore, complying fully to the Commission's logic would require for the Member-states to concur - at least to a certain extent - to a shift of the citizens' loyalty from the national to the European instances and to a displacement of the locus for democratic debate and common identity to the European level, as it has been the case with decision-making powers in the last two decades. [...]
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