Departing from the idea that political controversies are embedded in the very framework of European integration, this volume focuses on the relationship between politicisation and European democracy. The contributors to this edited volume trace the various ways of understanding politicisation before and beyond the 2019 European elections. The aim is to offer constructive reinterpretations of the concept for further research in the field. Encompassing different approaches, the book shows a plurality of perspectives and provides innovative analytical tools to make sense of the phenomenon of politicisation in the EU context.

Assuming that EU politicisation can be seen both as vice and virtue depending on the way in which it takes place, the authors analyse under what conditions it has a positive or negative influence over European democracy. Emphasising that scholars ought to be aware of the normative assumptions underlying the conceptualisation of politicisation, the book illustrates how many of the features in European politics that were intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic were already present earlier.

Tracing the Politicisation of the EU will be of interest to students and scholars in EU Studies, Comparative Politics, Media and Communication, Political Theory and Political Sociology.

Taru Haapala is a Marie Curie fellow within the MSCA-COFUND InterTalentum programme at the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, and docent in Political Science at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her publications includeDebates, Rhetoric and Political Action: Practices of Textual Interpretation and Analysis (2017).

Alvaro Oleartis a postdoctoral researcher at Studio Europa Maastricht and the Department of Political Science of Maastricht University, Netherlands and a scientific collaborator at the Institute for European Studies of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. He is the author ofFraming TTIP in the European Public Spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU Integration (2021).

1. Towards a Multi-Faceted Approach to Politicisation in the EU.- Part 1: Politicisation of the EU as a polity.- 2. Between Optimism and Pessimism: Rethinking EU Politicisation in Theory, Conceptualisation and Research.- 3. Citizens permissive consensus in European integration scholarship: Theoretical reflections on the EU politicisation and the democratic deficit discourse.- 4. Politicisation as a Speech Act. A Repertoire for Analysing Politicisation in Parliamentary Plenary Debates.- 5. The European Rescue of the Front National: From the Fringes towards the Centre of National Politics through EU Politicisation.- Part 2: Social media in the politicisation of the EU.- 6. Parliamentary Rhetoric Meets the Twittersphere: Rethinking the Politicisation of European Public Debates with the Rise of Social Media.- 7. The Politicisation of the EU and the Making of a European Twittersphere: The Case of the Spitzenkandidaten Process.- Part 3: EU politicisation narratives and patterns.- 9. Patterns of Politicisation in the 2019 European Elections: salience, polarisation and conflict over EU integration in (Eastern/Western) media coverage.- 10. The Commission Takes the Lead?  Supranational Politicisation and Clashes of Narratives on Sovereignty in the Context of the Future of Europe Debates.- 11. The European Commissions Communication Strategy as a Response to Politicisation in Times of EU Contestation.- 12. Make Europe Great Again: The Renewed Pro-European Narrative of Macron.- 13. Tracing the Politicisation of the EU: A Research Agenda for Exploring the Politicising Strategies in the Future of Europe Debates.