ABSTRACT
From a democracy point of view, a European public sphere with a European demos, which is conscious of its role of overseeing the actions of supranational policymakers, is desirable in Europe due to the increasing powers of the European Union. The European Union (EU) concedes that a well-functioning European public sphere (EPS) is essential for creating input legitimacy, as there are few other links between its policy-making bodies and citizens. 1 Indeed, with the European Commission in lead, the EU has been striving to create the three key ingredients of an EPS: (1) a European political center by introducing supranational decision-making in increasingly more policy areas, (2) a European civil society by initiating and sponsoring pan-European networks of civil society organizations, European party groups in the European Parliament, European party federations, and direct elections to the European Parliament, and (3) a pan-European media space by standardizing of national media systems, partial regulation of media ownership, and establishment of pan-European media outlets.
