Thesis
2023/2024
Allison Auld: Communication Strategies During COVID-19: The EU and US Perspective Volume I: Leadership in Crisis: A Comparative Analysis of Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen’s COVID-19 Crisis Communication Strategies
The COVID-19 pandemic forced world leaders to navigate a complex, high-stakes crisis, requiring swift and strategic communication to maintain public trust. This thesis examines the crisis communication approaches of Donald Trump and Ursula von der Leyen, two leaders from the world’s largest democratic blocs, through the lens of Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT). It explores how their strategies aligned with or deviated from established crisis communication frameworks, highlighting the unique challenges posed by a politically charged, global health emergency. The study calls for a broader understanding of political crisis communication, offering insights into the evolving strategies required for effective leadership in such unprecedented times.
Katerina Kongkika: Communication Strategies During COVID-19: The EU and US Perspective Volume II: The EMA and FDA X (Twitter) Communication Strategies During the First Year of the Pandemic: A Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) Model Perspective
Effective communication is vital in managing public health emergencies. This study investigates how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) leveraged Twitter during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis, using the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) model. By analyzing their strategies, the research highlights the importance of timely, credible information and identifies gaps in emotional engagement. It offers valuable insights into improving social media communication, emphasizing the need for balancing factual accuracy with empathy to enhance public trust during future health emergencies.
This dual perspective, spanning both political and institutional communication across the EU and the US, reveals the interplay between messaging from political leaders and health institutions, highlighting how these approaches can either reinforce or undermine public trust. It offers a holistic view of crisis communication, identifying gaps and strengths to guide more cohesive and effective responses in future public health emergencies across different geopolitical contexts.
2020/2021
Marie Volkenner: Culture at European Union Level: identifying possible obstacles in the European Institutions to increase the effectiveness of cultural advocacy campaigns.
2019/2020
Eugenia Bardaro: The Influence of Public Opinion in the EU Trade Negociations: How did civil Society Politicize the TTIP?
2018/2019
Marie Trevisan: The EU Goes Corporate: An Analysis of the European Commission’s Use of Corporate Communication Practices
Myriam Alcain: Towards fair and responsible garment production, Why isn’t there EU legislation ensuring a socially sustainable garment supply chain
2017/2018
Damien Genicot: Comment renforcer la capacité de l’Union européenne à garantir le respect de ses valeurs fondatrices par les États membres ? Analyse des raisons de l’impuissance de l’article 7 du traité sur l’Union européenne, des procédures d’infraction et du cadre pour l’État de droit pour résoudre le cas de la Pologne
2016/2017
Victoria Marchegiani : Counter-narrative’ strategies VS online radicalisation. The rise of so-called Islamic State’ online strategies and how to tackle their appeal for disenchanted young Europeans. Is communication enough
2015/2016
Barbara Liebshardt and Thomas Bergmann: Revitalizing Europe –An EU-branding campaign as a tool to regain public support for the European Union and to overcome its political crisis Volume I: Theoretical background Volume II: Campaign conceptualization
2014/2015
Claudia Conticello: Which space do civil society organisations have in Europe? Analysing the challenges civil society is facing in its relations
Jean Monnet Module 2015/2018-Working Papers Publications
The Jean Monnet module was from September 2015 until September 2018 a modular part of the educational programme of the Executive Master EPAC, which is recognised and subsidised by the Erasmus + programme. It aims to stimulate the research and work done by young researchers on European topics.
2018 – Promoting active citizenship, an effective form of communication for Europe?
This year’s common and fundamental theme [fil rouge] was the European Union’s –the Commission’s in particular -reflexion on its own institutional future. The foundations of this introspective and prospective exercise wereto be found in the Commission’s“White Paper on the Future of Europe-Reflectionsand scenarios for the EU27 by 2025”.A text prior analysedin class. Students were thereby asked to focus (as highlighted by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in his State of the Union Speech) on the five envisaged scenarios (+ 1, i.e. Jean-Claude Juncker’s own scenario)
2017 – Radicalization: Seven projects of European awareness campaigns
Pour cette édition, les étudiants se sont concentrés sur la thématique de la radicalisation. Sept projets de campagne sont ainsi développés à destination des grands publics, complétés par des recommandations et des pistes de travail concrètes.
2016 – Strategic brainstorming on seven European public communication campaigns
Régulièrement, les institutions européennes sont amenées, à travers des campagnes de communication publique, à s’adresser aux citoyens des différents Etats-Membres sur quantité de thématiques. Ces campagnes visent à conscientiser, voire influer sur le comportement des individus, parties-prenantes et décideurs politiques. Comment aborder ces thématiques, à travers quels messages, et quels publics privilégier ? Pour y répondre, les étudiants du Master exécutif en Communication et Politique européennes 2015/2016 ont rédigé, dans le cadre du module Jean Monnet de la Commission européenne, une série d’analyses de campagnes à destination du grand public, complétées par des recommandations et des pistes de travail concrètes. Ce Working Paper présente 7 campagnes de communication européenne qui vont de l’économie circulaire à la gestion de la crise des réfugiés dans l’Union européenne.