Selling TTIP: The European Commission’s information policy and the spectre of public opinion

Stavinoha, Luděk (2021) Selling TTIP: The European Commission’s information policy and the spectre of public opinion. European Journal of Communication, 36 (3). pp. 286-301. ISSN 0267-3231

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Abstract

This article examines the European Commission’s information policy during the heavily politicised Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. Through the methodologically innovative use of Freedom of Information requests, it moves beyond official discourse to reveal how internal deliberation among Commission officials is preoccupied with monitoring and containing civil society mobilisation against the deal. Underpinned by elitist conceptions of democracy, public opinion emerges as a problem to be solved through strategic public relations, despite the Commission’s discursive commitments to greater transparency and political dialogue with citizens. The findings challenge the widely-held notion that a ‘communication deficit’ between European Union institutions and their publics is at the root of the perennially elusive formation of a European public sphere. Instead, approaching TTIP as a key frontline in the struggle over post-democracy, I conclude that antipublic ideas encoded in the Commission’s information policy are reflective of historically engrained institutional ambivalence towards public-political participation.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ttip,eu trade,freedom of information,transparency,public opinion,political communication,communication,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3315
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	23 Oct 2020 00:00
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2022 07:20
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/77413
DOI:	10.1177/0267323120978719

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