A SWIFT change after Lisbon? The European Parliament's salience in the media

Gattermann, Katjana (2011) A SWIFT change after Lisbon? The European Parliament's salience in the media. [Conference Proceedings] (Submitted)

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Abstract

The case of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) has generated a heated discussion between the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission concerning the data exchange via bank transfers between the EU and the US. However, although the case had attracted opponents and critics from within the European Parliament in discussions about both security policy and citizen rights since the disclosure of the SWIFT service in 2006, the issue became most salient in the European quality press at the time when the European legislature rejected an interim agreement in February 2010. The paper investigates the variation of media coverage over time by drawing on a comprehensive content analysis of quality newspapers in six EU countries as well as on interviews with the respective correspondents in Brussels. It argues that the enactment of the Lisbon Treaty is responsible for the Parliament’s greater visibility in the press – it gave the institution the power to veto the agreement. Yet, the study not only discovers variation over time but also across countries which is being related to the role of the national parliaments in the SWIFT debate suggesting some form of rivalry in the mediated public sphere exemplified by the German case. Despite being a single yet crucial case study, it has positive implications for the democratic deficit debate. Since the media hold the important function of transmitting news and information to Europe’s citizens their reportage could potentially lead to more public awareness of the EU and its representative body in the post-Lisbon era.

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