A Collapse in Trust in the EU ? Europeans' Attitudes towards Europe during the Great Recession
Abstract
The period of the “Great Recession” since 2008 has led to a downward trend
in many indicators of support for European integration. From the point of view
of the trust that Europeans have towards Europe (an important dimension of
diffuse support for the EU), we can even speak of a deep crisis of trust in the
European Union action, as recorded since 2008 in the opinions of Europeans.
In some countries (like Greece), we even recorded a collapse of confidence. The
analysis of two Eurobarometer studies, one at the beginning of the crisis and
another in 2011, shows that if the collapse is certainly there, and not only on
indicators of diffuse support towards EU integration, Europeans do not impute
responsibility for the crisis to the EU only: Europeans perceive the crisis and the
role of Europe in the crisis through the prism of their national experiences, in
particular confidence in their governments and the perception of the economic
situation of their country. Moreover, the crisis of trust in the EU does not entail
ipso facto a serious crisis of confidence in the euro: we do not observe for euro
a comparable collapse to that observed in terms of overall trust in the EU.
Among euro-zone countries, evolutions are slightly declining but not very
significantly; it is in countries that are outside the euro-zone or those who are
candidates to enter in that the lower support for the euro can be observed.
Domains
Political science
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