The transformation of the national public space in Europe. From the community of language to the issue-specific community of discourse

There is already a public sphere in Europe. The public debate in Europe on issues such as the BSE-scandal, the corruption in the Commission or the reg ulation of migration and the treatment of migrants have led to forms of pub lic resonance that cross national borders. To grasp this public space in Eu rope, an analytical model of the variable social location of this public sp ace is proposed. Contrary to the national public space, this emerging Europ ean public space is no longer tied to the condition of a community of langu age, to a people speaking the same language ("Volk"). Such community is rep laced by networks of political actors which are held together by an issue-s pecific community of discourse, no longer by a community of language. The s tructural options of this emerging public space in Europe are then summariz ed in an analytical model which has implications for the normative question of whether such a European public space can fulfill the function of democr atizing the European Union.