Public Support for EU Economic Solidarity during the Covid-19 Pandemic

• In Event: COVID Politics

Abstract

In response to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union has launched one of the most massive assistance package in EU history, where all 27 EU member states are asked to jointly borrow a staggering 500 billion Euros to finance grants to areas hardest hit by the crises. Despite the unprecedented size of this package, we know less about citizens support for such common EU response to the crises. Using unique data from a large online survey including all 27 EU member states conducted between October and Decemeber in 2020 (n=60,000), this study investigates the degree to which citizens prefer an EU response to the crisis compared with an exclusively national one. Our theoretical framework builds on various sets of expectations from the growing literature on public support for international aid, in particular within the EU - namely the effect of elite cues, utilitarian concerns, geographic attachment and perceptions of institutions. Using experimental and observational data we test a number of theoretical expectations to better understand patterns of mass support – or scepticism – for EU economic integration in times of crisis.

Authors

• Nicholas Charron, Goteburg University

• Monika Bauhr, University of Gothenburg