At the national level, the example is striking. Almost all the major news channels have devoted multiple articles, hours of airtime, podcasts, social media briefs or even live coverage to the US elections. For some channels, the topic was covered for several days without mentioning other international news, or for very short periods, compared to the US elections. This intensive treatment of the event has upset some listeners even in the USA, after the election. This revulsion may be explained by the fact that quality was not necessarily adequate. Indeed, no one could predict with certainty the outcome of the elections. Therefore, those invited to appear on television sets or be interviewed could only make assumptions about the results. There was little clarification and additional information on the elections in the case of television. 

Secondly, this intensive treatment of the elections has eclipsed a significant number of subjects that would have benefited from visibility. The closest example is the war in Ukraine. It was well-known at the beginning of the conflict, but since then, media coverage of the conflict has declined dramatically. 

Nevertheless, we must be nuanced. Indeed, this interest in the US elections is not only French. This phenomenon is also found in other countries of the European Union. The Italian and Spanish media also devoted a significant portion of their resources to covering the event, but in a more balanced and structured way. The Italian media only devoted an intensive evening to the elections. While, for example, the Spanish daily newspaper, El País has been able to see beyond national interests and project itself at the level of the European Union.

This is important because, beyond the national interests linked to maintaining good relations with the United States, the whole European continent is affected by these elections. Indeed, this increased media coverage is explained by the fact that Europe has a close partnership with the US. This situation is old and dates back at least to the end of the Second World War. With the weakening of their powers, European countries had to turn to one or another of the new great powers, the United States and the USSR. Then, history has made this relationship even stronger, especially in trade. This dynamic has been recognised by the European Commission and the Council. However, the policy of recent presidents who have turned more towards Asia, as well as the subtle positions taken by the European Union in disagreement with certain USA policies, has transformed the link between the two created during the 20th century into something more flexible and different.

This transformation shows that the European Union can have a strong international policy independent of the American one. Nevertheless, the EU still remains dependent on the US when it has the potential to become a true power on the international stage. 

(1) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57489588

By Lucie Petit

To go further on our month file dedicated to the consequences for Europe of the US elections, you can read our society and international relations sections’ articles on our blog.

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