The European Parliament's Activities in European Union Foreign Policy: Is This the Mediatization of Conflict Management?

Abstract

Despite the restricted formal role of the European Parliament (EP) in foreign policy decision-making, the aim of this research is to demonstrate that the EP tries and can actively influence conflict management. Though this influence can only be informal, and cannot take the form of decisions with binding legal effects. In connection with the research goal thus defined, the authors hypothesize that the EP creates political discourse in order to mediatize the conflict using goal-framing and agenda-setting in social media. The research material includes, in addition to documents published in the EP's Public Register of Documents, primarily posts on the EP's social media. The European Parliament's aspirations to expand the scope of its powers in EU foreign policy and the EP's participation in managing the analyzed conflict through mediatization is especially evident in social media communication targeted towards citizens, related to the PE's activity in the field of rhetorical diplomacy.