Work

Public support for European fiscal integration in times of crisis

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: The current economic crisis has triggered fierce debates among policy-makers and the media across and within European countries about the need for a closer European fiscal union. Using a novel dataset derived from the Eurobarometer surveys, this article investigates European citizens' opinions towards such fiscal integration. We find that both country-level variables (such as expected country-level costs/benefits) and individual-level variables (such as distrust towards European Union institutions, ideology and altruism) have significant explanatory power. We also uncover a notable intra-generational divide across young citizens of euro creditor and euro debtor countries, and show that this reflects their varying expectations regarding the future costs and benefits of fiscal integration. This demonstrates that the same demographic groups in different countries may have widely varying positions towards fiscal integration.

Source: Journal of European Public Policy

DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2014.988639

Authors: Gianmarco Daniele, Benny Geys

Language: English

Topic: European Union Policy and Governance

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funders: European Commission, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Vlaamse regering

Award: Micro-level Socialisation and the Role of the Institutional Environment in Civic engagement.