This communication analyses whether European-lead policies and the media coverage about them may have an influence on citizens’ relationship to politics. To do so it looks at citizens’ opinion about welfare policies. The focus is on a peculiar policy: European workers’ free movement policy. Analysing citizens’ discourses enables to observe whether and how citizens rely on frames as discursive tool. Integrating media frames and their influence on citizens’ discourses, enables to assess whether or not media establish the formulation of the debate and/or its meaning. Methodologically, the analysis relies on a comparative design between France, Belgium and the UK. This selection displays different patterns of welfare reforms and different types of media system. The perspective shed light on the fact that: (1) citizens are more interested in policies outcomes than in legitimacy or transparency debates and; despite this, (2) they assess policies on the basis of ex-ante debates rather than on policies.

Reference : Pennetreau Damien (2019), Comparing the politising effect of EU vs national policies, paper presented at the CES 26th International Conference of Europeanists, Madrid, 20-22 June 2019.