Search

Studies on support for the European integration process note that a serious threat to such support is the presence of a strong national identity that perceives the EU negatively. The integration process in Europe has included policies of devolution, tapping into regional identities and strengthening these sub-national entities to the detriment of the governments of the member-states. An empirical question arises: Is there a relationship between regional attachment and support for the European integration process that can be observed in the European Union? Using Eurobarometer survey results, this paper develops and tests a theory connecting regional attachment and support for the EU. The paper builds on previous research on euroskepticism and support for the EU to establish the causal link between regional attachment and support for European integration. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents original data on the use of a mechanism for differentiated application of European legislation. It further explores the effect of such diversity accommodating procedures on EU integration. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In June 2008, the Irish public rejected the EU Constitution in Europe’s only referendum on the document. The purpose of this paper is to examine the official one-month pre-referendum period in order to better understand the debate on both sides and discuss its impact on Irish relations with the EU. Why did the “no” side prevail during the referendum despite a massive government campaign to persuade voters to support the EU Constitution? The paper will examine the arguments of both sides through a discussion of their positions. The pro-constitution position will be evaluated based on the arguments of the government, political parties, and other organizations in support of closer European integration while the anti-constitution side will be evaluated from the arguments of the political parties and groups opposed to Ireland’s participation in a strengthened EU. I visited Ireland for two weeks in May 2008 to observe the pre-referendum debate process on the EU Constitution and this paper will reflect personal observations and conversations with the Irish public as well as information from the pro and con organizations behind of the issue. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What determines support for European integration? Easton (1975) argues that political support ranges from the specific to the diffuse. Citizens usually assess national governments in terms of short-term performance and judge governmental institutions in terms of long-term experience. European integration is neither a government nor a set of institutions; it is a process The European Union (EU) also does not govern in the traditional sense of the term. Can Easton’s framework be applied here? If so, how are these evaluations framed? The EU will be defined as an asymmetric federation: duration of membership, the degree of shared trade, and financial costs and benefits vary across the member states. These differing contexts could condition how individuals perceive integration. Consequently, this paper will address two questions. First, to what extent do specific and diffuse evaluations drive support for European integration? Second, to what extent are these evaluations framed by the fragmented nature of Europe integration? Data for the analysis will be drawn from responses to identically worded questions in Eurobarometers 51.0, 52.0, 53.0, and 54.1 (which were conducted in the fall and spring of 1999 and 2000). The dependent variable will be an additive index that measures whether respondents prefer national-level or European-level decision-making in 17 major policy areas. Integration increases as national policies are shared at the European level and decreases as European policies are recaptured by the member states. An additive index of support for the four major European-level institutions will represent diffuse support, and an additive index of the perceived national benefits of EU membership will represent specific support. Years of membership, intra-EU trade, and net EU budget contributions will be the key contextual variables. Additional, relevant individual-level and national-level predictors also will be included. When pooled, the surveys include 60 national-level and approximately 58,000 individual-level cases, which permits a multilevel model to be adequately specified at both levels. Consequently, a multilevel rather than a contextual model will be used. This paper should contribute significantly to the literature on European integration. We do not know how either specific or diffuse support contribute to popular perceptions of European integration. Evaluations of integration may be an extension of national-level concerns, as the literature on second-order elections would seem to indicate. Or integration could be assessed via European institutions, in which case some form of European identification potentially may exist. The framing effects of national context are of equal importance. If these perceptions vary with the amount of shared trade or financial contributions, then they may be fleeting; but if they vary with duration of membership, then they may be more enduring. With the introduction of the Euro and the upcoming accession, the EU is at an historical juncture. One only can estimate how far European integration will proceed is one understands how Europeans view this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second image reversed analyses abound in the literature, but none of them directly address the European Union as the dependent variable. An analytical framework is proposed here. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests five competing theories of support for integration previously examined within the EU-15 among the 10 new member states, with the goal of better understanding the kinds of policy demands likely to emanate from the region. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]