It is often claimed that the participation of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can mitigate the democratic deficit of the European Union. This claim rests on the assumption that civil society organizations channel citizens' concerns to the European institutions, a view which is also shared by...

Based on qualitative research conducted in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom, the article analyses the "citizens' perspective" on the "EU financial crisis" as it is communicated in the European public sphere. With reference to this aim, we argue in the following...