WORTH Jon - Online Communications in EU Policy-Making (8h)

Professor: Jon WORTH

Academic Assistant: Harm VAN DE PLASSCHE

Policy making in the European Union has partially been conducted in an online public sphere for a decade, as policy makers use social media as a means to communicate with their peers, with journalists and with a wider interested public. This poses a fascinating challenge to the traditional institutional structure of the European Union, redefining insiders and outsiders, breaking down the geographic aspect of the 'Brussels bubble' and prioritising new actors who can navigate the complex system of online debate about the European Union. Examples such as ACTA, Right 2 Water, the neonicotinoids pesticides ban, and controversies about TTIP, have shown the importance of online communications in EU policy making, while the considerable online presence of politicians such as Neelie Kroes (the pioneer in the Commission), Margrethe Vestager or Fidias Panayiotou demonstrates how a major online network can be a useful base of power in EU decision making. Graduates from the College of Europe are going to encounter this environment the moment they start in the labour market in Brussels, either within an institution or in an interest representation or campaign organisation. This course is designed with this in mind – to equip the students with the necessary practical skills, rooted in a wider intellectual framework, to be able to be confident and able participants in online policy making and advocacy within the EU environment. It will also be a useful foundation for the digital communication tools used in the Simulation Game in the politics department in the second semester.