Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres

‘This is a very well-crafted and thought-provoking book on the politicisation of EU issues within domestic politics and its role in the development of a European public sphere. An important takeaway is that EU should embrace public contestation as a means to foster the real engagement with its politics and policies.’ —Catherine de Vries, Bocconi University, Italy 
‘This book is not only a rich study of the impact of civil society mobilisations on the debates about the TTIP in Europe, but also an important contribution to establish a much needed interdisciplinary dialogue between political theory, interest groups and mobilisation studies and political communication in European studies.’ —Luis Bouza García, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain  
‘This book is a leap forward for the study of the European public sphere. Students will find it informative on the themes ofEU democracy and public spheres, as well as on the TTIP debate in particular, while scholars will value its original findings, methods and theoretical contributions.’ —Louisa Parks, School of International Studies, University of Trento, Italy

This book explores the debate and politicisation of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations in the Spanish, French and British public spheres. It addresses the questions of how and to what extent the national media discourses about TTIP were Europeanised, and how this type of Europeanisation contributes to the democratic legitimacy of the EU. The author argues that the politicisation of TTIP should be seen as a symptom of the ‘normal’ politics of a democratic polity, as it enlarges the political arena by embedding European issues into national political debates. Demands for ‘Another Europe is Possible’ empower rather than hinder the legitimacy of the EU.
Alvaro Oleart is a researcher in EU studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and a scientific collaborator at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.