What’s Wrong with the EU? â€" Explaining the Lack of Popular Support for EU Institutions.

The failed referenda in France and the Netherlands on the EU constitution in May 2005 as well as Eurobarometer data reveal a lack of popular support for the EU as a political actor and the integration process. Theorists hold that this phenomenon can be attributed to (1) a lack of an EU-wide public sphere that would facilitate deliberative processes, (2) a distinctly “European”, as opposed to “national”, identity, and (3) a legitimacy deficit arising from the fact that EU institutions predominantly deal with issues that citizens consider non-salient.This paper seeks to qualify arguments (1) and (2). It holds that basic structures of a shared public sphere do indeed exist albeit being distinct from national ones. Further more, a shared identity can be traced in so-called “sites of memory”. Concerning argument (3), the paper holds that despite its limited capacity for policy-making, the EU is a potent political actor in terms of agenda setting as can be extracted from public political statements and election campaigns. The paper suggests that the lack of support is â€" at least partially â€" due to an insufficient communication strategy which fails to mediate political processes originating from the EU. Without such a strategy, however, potential benefits of EU policies will remain obscure to the citizenry. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]