Economic, Political and Social Identity in the European Union
Professor John Wilton

Lecture 7 European Union identity today

Web site for information referred to in this lecture is www.ec.europa.eu Eurobarometer 62 from Autumn 2004 (fieldwork carried out in October/November 2004) Eurobarometer 74 (fieldwork Oct/Nov. 2010, published Feb. 2011 Eurobarometer 90 (fieldwork Oct/Nov 2018, published Dec. 2018) Eurobarometer 92 (fieldwork Oct/Nov 2019, published Dec. 2019)

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Eurobarometer 62 (Autumn 2004) EU membership good thing (56%). Plus 8 percentage points from Eurobarometer 61 (Spring 2004). Highest level of support since 1995. - But, view that EU membership is a good thing for their country mainly found amongst the citizens of old Member States (85% Luxembourg, 77% Ireland, 75% Netherlands, 73% Belguim, 72% Spain)

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Oct/Nov 2004 Eurobarometer poll 53% of EU citizens considered their country had benefited from belonging to the EU - 34% thought their country hadn’t benefited. - Positive view Plus 6 percentage points from survey Feb/Mar 2004 - reached a level not seen over previous 10 years

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IMAGE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION - 50% had a positive image of the EU in Oct/Nov 2004 survey – an increase of 6 percentage points on Spring 2004 survey - 33% were neutral about the EU image - 15% had a negative perception of the image of the EU

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From this the Eurobarometer 62 report suggested that: • “This constant trend reflects once again the gap which exists between the wishes of citizens for more Europe and their perception of the current situation.” (p.29)

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Eurobarometer 74 (Autumn 2010): Most important personal values for EU citizens - human rights 47% - peace 44% - respect for human life 41% - democracy 29% - individual freedom 23% - rule of law 22% - equality 19%

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Eurobarometer 74 (Autumn 2010): - When asked to select the values that best represent the E.U., Europeans gave priority to the values which are the most important for them personally: - human rights 38% - democracy 38% - peace 35%

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Eurobarometer 74 (Autumn 2010): Perceptions of what the E.U. represents for E.U citizens: - freedom to travel, study and work anywhere in E.U. 45% - Euro 40% - peace 24% - democracy 23% - cultural diversity 23% - stronger voice in world 23% BUT, - waste of money 25%

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Eurobarometer 74 (Autumn 2010): - 38% of Europeans surveyed had a positive image of the European Union ( = minus/decline of 10 percentage points in comparison with Eurobarometer 72 in Autumn 2009 – effect of Euro crisis?) - Eurobarometer 62 (Autumn 2004) 50% had positive image of E.U.

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Eurobarometer 90 (Autumn 2018) IMAGE OF THE E.U. 43% positive image (highest level since Autumn 2009) 36% neutral image 20% negative image From Spring 2018 positive image had increased in 17 states

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Eurobarometer 90 (Autumn 2018) E.U. Citizenship - In all EU states more than half the people surveyed felt they were citizens of the E.U. (71% across the E.U. as a whole) Most positive results of being E.U. citizen: - 59% free movement of people, goods and services within E.U. - 55% peace among E.U. Member States

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Eurobarometer 92 (Autumn 2019) IMAGE OF THE E.U. 42% positive image (down 1 percentage point on Autumn 2018) 37% neutral image (up 1 percentage point on Autumn 2018) 20% negative image (same as Autumn 2018)

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Eurobarometer 92 (Autumn 2019) E.U. Citizenship - In all EU states more than half the people surveyed felt they were citizens of the E.U. (70% across the E.U. as a whole) Most positive results: 91% Luxembourg Least positive results: 51% Greece