Brussels will pay for everything. The shaping of the European public sphere before NextGenerationEU

Rivas-de-Roca, Rubén and García-Gordillo, Mar Brussels will pay for everything. The shaping of the European public sphere before NextGenerationEU. Profesional de la información, 2022, vol. 31, n. 3. [Journal article (Unpaginated)]

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English abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic raised enormous challenges in crisis management for democratic entities such as the European Union (EU). To achieve an economic and social solution to the crisis, EU institutions have promoted the NextGenerationEU (NGEU) program, a massive recovery fund. This action comes at a time of high visibility of Euroscepticism, embedded within a global phenomenon of distrust of political authorities. The aim of this study is to determine the shaping of the European public sphere when NGEU was launched. First, it describes the evolution of support for the EU during the pandemic, analyzing the possible factors that affect this variable. For this, a secondary analysis of data from different waves of the Eurobarometer is applied (EB 92, 93, 94, and 95). Statistical analysis is also applied to extract elements that determine the image of the EU. Meanwhile, the communication of this plan is evaluated in greater depth through semistructured interviews with some of the professionals responsible for this task. The aim is to provide an overview of how the public space made up by citizens and institutions is configured during this moment of symbolic relevance. The results reveal a trend toward greater positivity toward the EU in the aftermath of the pandemic. However, the degree of support depends on, among other possible factors, the ideological position of and (to a lesser extent) the type of locality where each individual lives. EU officials value this rise of Europeanism as an opportunity, directing the NGEU communication campaign especially toward young people.

Item type: Journal article (Unpaginated)
Keywords: Institutional communication; Public opinion; European public sphere; Opinion polls; Semistructured interviews; Europeanism; Euroscepticism; Eurobarometer; NextGenerationEU; European Union.
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
C. Users, literacy and reading.
C. Users, literacy and reading. > CB. User studies.
H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HA. Periodicals, Newspapers.
H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HP. e-resources.
H. Information sources, supports, channels. > HT. Web 2.0, Social networks
Depositing user: Tomàs Baiget
Date deposited: 19 Jun 2022 19:29
Last modified: 19 Jun 2022 19:29
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/43292

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