THE EUROPEAN PUBLIC SPHERE:
from critical thinking to responsible action
02/02/2012 Committee of the Regions, Rue Belliard 99-101, 1040
- Brussels

Updated 10/2/2012

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EPS: from critical thinking to responsible action
Jean Monnet Conference
Committee of the Regions, Rooms JDE 51, 52, 53
February 2, 2012
Jointly organised by ECREA & SMIT-VUB

The Jean Monnet conference “The European Public Sphere: from critical thinking to responsible action” is a one day conference with three parallel thematic sessions in the morning, a plenary session and a round table in the afternoon. The parallel sessions will analyse and reflect upon the EPS from the perspectives of Identity Building and Citizenship Building, Communication and Information Strategies and Policies and Multiple Governance Structures and Actors. The plenary session will present further reflections on concrete policy recommendations and actions to implement the EPS and empower citizens in view of the discussions at the parallel sessions in the morning. A concluding Round Table will discuss on the public sphere(s) and space(s) in Europe.

9.00/9.30 Registration

9.30/10.00
Welcome Addresses

Laurent Thieule, Communication Director, Committee of the Regions, Brussels

François Heinderyckx, President of ECREA, Université Libre de Bruxelles

Luciano Morganti, Chair of Intercultural and International Communication Section (IIC) of ECREA, SMIT/IBBT-Vrije Universiteit Brussel


10.00/13.00
Morning Session
The morning session consists of three parallel thematic panels with the same structure. Each session is introduced by an invited guest and presents four papers. A first paper focuses on key concepts and models of the EPS (theoretically based paper); a second paper deals with policies and the institutional framework around the EPS (policy based paper); In the second part of the parallel morning sessions the last two papers present in-depth case studies implementing the EPS. A discussion follows the presentation of the papers.

10.00/11.15
Parallel Sessions 1 Theoretical and Policy Analysis

Parallel Session 1.1: EPS and European Identity Building and Citizenship Building
Content: The three concepts mutually shape, reinforce and complement each other. The session aims at reflecting and analysing their mutual articulation and the necessity to develop holistic paradigms rather than sector specific ones.

Chair: Caroline Pauwels, Director SMIT/IBBT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Introductory Notes: The EU integration process: a citizens’ perspective
Invited Guest: Mrs. Ariane Debyser, Head of Sector, EUROBAROMETER, Brussels (TBC)

Contribution 1: New borders, new citizens: virtual communication strategies for remaking EU citizenship
Simon Moore & Sean McDonald, Associate Professors, Bentley University

Contribution 2: Europe Beyond the Crisis? Citizens’ (re)actions on the Multi-segmentation of the European Public Sphere
Andreas Hepp, Professor, & Swantje Lingenberg, Johanna Möller, Anne Mollen, Monika Elsler, Researchers, ZeMKI University of Bremen

Respondent: Carmina Crusafon, Vice-Chair of Communication Law and Policy Section ECREA, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

Discussion


Parallel Session 1.2: EP Spheres, Communication and Information Strategies and Policies
Content: European Information and communication strategies are not always able to reach the aims they are targeted to. The institutions are not only confronted with political challenges but also with a constantly changing media landscape. Different groups use different media in different ways and with a certain degree of unpredictability. The session analyses the complex relationship between the societal appropriation of media and the challenges this pose to the policy maker.

Chair: Nico Carpentier, Vice President ECREA, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Introductory Notes: Communication Strategies in the European Commission: challenges and lessons learnt
Invited Guest: Mr. Béla Dajka, Corporate Communication Manager, DG Communication, European Commission

Contribution 1: Reaching European Citizens Through Mass Media - A Discussion of EU Information and communication Activities and Their Role for the European Public Sphere(s)
Chiara Valentini & Bo Laursen, Associate Professors, Aarhus University

Contribution 2: The EU Information Machine – High Time for Refueling
Jan Bierhoff, CEO, Medialynx, Maastricht

Respondent: Leo Van Audenhove, Vice-Chair of International and Intercultural Section ECREA, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Discussion

Parallel Session 1.3: EPS and Multi-level Governance Structures and Actors
Content: Multi-level Governance structures and actors, especially if culturally and linguistically dispersed over 27 Member States and a multitude of political processes at European and national level, can naturally lead to confused public spheres. The session analyses the relationship and the interplay between multiple European public spheres (local, regional and European) and the new governance mechanisms put in place at European level.

Chair: Béatrice Taulègne, Deputy Director, Horizontal Policies and Networks – CoR, Brussels

Introductory notes: Asymmetry, mediated communication and conflict in horizontal and vertical relationships in the European public sphere
Invited Guest: Mr. Luigi Martignetti, Secretary General, REVES, Brussels

Contribution 1: The process of Accountability: a justificatory link for the role and components of a European Public Sphere
Rachel Barlow, PhD Candidate, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen

Contribution 2: The EPS and the NUTS: an approach towards multi-level activation of the European citizenship
G.M. Ambrosi, Jean Monnet Professor, Universität Trier

Respondent: George Terzis, Vice-Chair of Journalism Studies Section ECREA, Vesalius College, Brussels

Discussion


11.15/11.45 Coffee Break

11.45/13.00
Parallel Session 2 Case Studies

Parallel Session 2.1: EPS and European Identity Building and Citizenship Building

Chair: Caroline Pauwels

Contribution 3: The European Parliament’s Online Communication Strategy: Creation of the European Public Sphere
Lucia Vesnic-Alujevic, Research Fellow, Centre for European Studies

Contribution 4: The forbidden policies of identity: appealing to the social responsibility of business
Joan Ramon Rodriguez-Amat, Researcher, University of Vienna & Sarah Fröb, PhD Candidate, Université Paris I La Sorbonne & Universität Bayreuth

Respondent: Carmina Crusafon

Discussion


Parallel Session 2.2: EP Spheres, Communication and Information Strategies and Policies

Chair: Nico Carpentier

Contribution 3: Public sphere and political communication: how does the public sphere evolve with the development of ICTs in local politics
Simon Gadras, Researcher, University Stendhal, Grenoble

Contribution 4: The Local Communication Flow as Strategic Resources in the Construction of a European Public Sphere
Marinella Belluati, Lecturer, University of Turin

Respondent: Leo Van Audenhove

Discussion


Parallel Session 2.3: EPS and Multi-level Governance Structures and Actors

Chair: Béatrice Taulègne

Contribution 3: A Policy-based European Public Sphere: the underpinnings of the Europe of Experts
Luca Barani, Maître de Conference, Université Libre de Bruxelles

Contribution 4: The effects of the debate on participatory democracy in the Spanish and French debates on the European Constitution
Luis Bouza García, PhD Candidate, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen

Respondent: George Terzis

Discussion


13.00/14.30 Lunch Break


14.30/15.30
Plenary Session

Chair: Léonce Bekemans, Jean Monnet Chair, Academic Coordinator, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, University of Padua

Introductory notes: Critical Ideas and Reflections on the EPS
Jostein Gripsrud, Franqui Chair Professor, University of Bergen

Presentations of the findings of the thematic panels:
- Synthesis Session 1: EPS and European Identity Building and Citizenship Building
Carmina Crusafon
- Synthesis Session 2: EP Spheres, Communication and Information Strategies and Policies
Leo Van Audenhove
- Synthesis Session 3: EPS and Multiple Governance Structures and Actors
George Terzis

- Synthesis of policy recommendations
Luciano Morganti


15.30/16.00 Coffee Break


16.00/17.15
Round Table: Public Sphere(s) and Space(s) in Europe

Chaired and introduced by Mr. Luc Van den Brande, CoR Civex President, Special Advisor to the European Commissioner of Regional Affairs, Brussels

Participants: Caroline Pauwels, Nico Carpentier, Jostein Gripsrud, Ariane Debyser, Béla Dajka, Béatrice Taulègne, Luigi Martignetti


17.15/17.30
Conclusive remarks

Luciano Morganti


17.30/18.00
Cocktail



Outside the Conference Rooms: Posters

1) Beyond Homolingualism in the European Public Sphere: An Interactional Model of Simultaneous Interpretation
Stephanie Jo Kent, PhD Candidate, University of Massachusetts

2) Ideology Matters and History is not Over
Isabel de Castro Asarta, PhD Candidate, Gordon University, Aberdeen

3) Social Media Use of Members of the European Parliament
Karoline Schultz, Research Assistant, Ilmenau University of Technology

4) EU, citizenship and virtual communities: is it possible to have a European public sphere?
Stefano Agostini, PhD Candidate, La Sapienza, Rome

5) Conditions of the Emergence of European Public Spheres
Annett Heft, Research Associate, Barbara Pfetsch, Professor, Freie Universität Berlin

6) Communicating Europe among the young people in the regions through the social media in Internet
Desislava Manova-Georgieva, PhD Candidate, University St. Kliment Ohridski

7) European Regions and Institutions: innovation, subsidiarity and autonomy as basis for European economic and fiscal policy
Francesco Velo, Adjunct professor, Antonino Maniscalco, Research Fellow, University of Pavia

8) Local Environmental Governance in Multi-level Governance Perspective – the Case of the Bulgarian municipalities
Plamen Petkov Peev, Central European University, Budapest





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