Understanding variation in public support for European integration

TLDR

Research on the European Community has largely focused on elites and institutions, downplaying the mass public’s role, yet recent political events challenge the notion that the public is a stable reservoir of strong support for integration. The study aims to deepen understanding of European public attitudes toward integration. The authors test hypotheses on how trade interests, security concerns, and demographics influence support for integration using Eurobarometer surveys and OECD trade data from 1973–1989 in a pooled cross‑sectional model. Results show that support for integration is higher when a nation’s security and trade interests align with EC membership and when individuals can personally benefit from liberalized markets. Abstract.

Abstract

Abstract. Much of the research on the European Community focuses on elites and institutions and as a result downplays the importance of the mass public in determining the direction of European integration. A common justification for this viewpoint is that members of the public provide a stable reservoir of strong support for European integration. Recent political events, however, raise doubts about this depiction of a ‘passive public’. Consequently, there is a need for a fuller understanding of European attitudes. We specify a number of hypotheses dealing with the effects of international trade interests, security concerns, and demographic characteristics on cross‐national and cross‐sectional variations in public support for European integration. Using Eurobarometer surveys and OECD data on EC trade from 1973–1989, we investigate these hypotheses in a pooled cross‐sectional model. Our statistical results reveal that an individual's level of support is positively related to her nation's security and trade interests in EC membership and her personal potential to benefit from liberalized markets for goods, labour, and money.