Bases of Support for the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy: Gender, Attitudes toward Economic Integration, and Attachment to Europe

Abstract

The present study examines the determinants of individual support for the European Union’s (EU) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Using data from the 2005 Eurobarometer survey, I specified models that test whether gender, subjective economic evaluations of the European integration, and attachment to Europe affect how EU citizens view the CFSP and a possible rapid European military force. My findings show that there is no gender gap in EU foreign policy attitudes: women are not less pacific than men. Individuals base their evaluations of the EU on their experience of the economic integration and their feelings for Europe.