Little research has been done so far concerning the linkages between the presidency of the Council of the European Union, on the one hand, and communication efforts, on the other. The major objective of this diploma thesis is thus to investigate the central research question, the political communication of the Austrian EU presidency during the first half of 2006 and to test the hypothesis of the importance of marketing and politainment tools in public relations of the Austrian EU presidency

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... roduction, chapter 1). Is it true that the PR of the Austrian EU presidency was characterised by design, dialogue and duty? By means of the Austrian presidency and based on already existing research, this diploma thesis aims to explore possibilities to analyse the public relations of EU presidencies. After a detailed analysis of the legal and institutional basis of the EU presidency in general in chapter 2, chapter 3 goes on analysing the theoretical background of political communication. As an aside to the thesis, chapter 4 stresses the challenges of communicating EUrope. Chapter 5 deals with the main topics and the organisational structure set out for the Austrian EU presidency in 2006. Based on the previous sections, chapter 6 assesses the political communication of the Austrian EU presidency in 2006. Included are interviews conducted with three PR professionals of the Austrian EU presideny in 2006, working for the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Representation of Austria in Brussels, respectively. In the final chapter (chapter 7), conclusions are drawn which are based on the findings in the previous sections. The resume and discussion at the end asks furthermore how the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and the institutional changes laid down there may affect future communication strategies of the EU presidency.