outlet maintains a correspondent in Vaduz. Reporting on Liechtenstein is therefore usually 
"second-hand" — in the best case, from Zurich, which is an hour by car from Liechtenstein; in 
less good cases, from faraway Berlin. 
The obvious interest of some actors in Germany to conduct the tax discussion via their own 
media was therefore relatively easy and, as we have seen, extremely effective. On the other 
hand, it was suddenly easier for actors in Liechtenstein to gain access to the German mass 
media, which previously had shown little interest in Liechtenstein's economic success stories 
("good news is no news"). 
Because of the de facto lack of a noticeable influence by the Liechtenstein mass media, the 
country strips itself of a major opportunity to influence targeted actors or at least be heard by 
them. 
At least in the examined case, the "passive audience" sphere can be considered together for 
both countries, since surveys and studies can identify the opinion of the passive audience in 
both countries on a specific topic area or concrete question across borders. Within the "elite 
audience" sphere, the subgroup of the "active audience" can, in the opinion of the author at 
least in the examined case, also be defined and described across national borders, since the 
representatives of this group voice their opinions on the disputed issues (almost) 
independently of whether they can be allocated to Germany or Liechtenstein. 
The theory of agenda setting comes out of political science. Indeed, disputes arise especially 
when activity by (national) political decision-makers is desired. The reference point 1s the 
political decision-maker: Where and how does the political decision-maker act from the 
perspective of the public? What 1s the central problem? Is it tax evasion by German citizens in 
general terms and the identification of tax offenders, is it the belief that foreign banks or 
financial instruments facilitate tax evasion, or is the debate of "tax competition vs. tax 
harmonization" that has been smoldering in Europe for decades and surfaces time and again? 
Liechtenstein should in any event have an interest in the debate being an internal German 
matter and keeping it that way 1f possible (which initially indeed appeared to be the case). 
In the case of Liechtenstein and Germany, the goal is to find a settlement and to bring about 
activity of the other Government in the dispute that is in line with one's own interests. Two 
(political) publics are facing each other, both of which want to find and must, within the scope 
of their national interests, find a settlement at the national level (politicians want to be 
reelected and must therefore find domestic political support for the settlement) and at the 
international level. 
Tax refugees are increasingly operating internationally. States which lose tax revenue due to 
the international "tax optimization tactics" of their citizens are therefore also increasingly 
operating internationally. Naturally, the principle of non-interference by a State in the internal 
affairs of another State continues to hold. But globalization and the progressive integration of 
the European economic area show that the world, and in particular Europe, are becoming 
more and more of a single political and economic area. In the present paper, the author 
therefore assumed that the Eichhorn model can by and large — with amendments — also be 
applied to transnational communication, especially where it is conducted via the media. The 
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