scholarly journals Globalisation Scepticism in the Visegrad Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-451
Author(s):  
Marianna Dudášová
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Parallel Processes ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Visegrad Group ◽  
Visegrád Countries ◽  
The Eu

Recent developments in the European Union revealed significant differences between the Visegrad countries and the remaining members of the EU. The enlargement euphoria of the first decade of the 21st century was replaced by certain enlargement fatigue, manifesting itself not only in concrete governmental policies but also in the public opinion towards the EU. As European integration and globalisation are parallel processes, declining support for European integration must not necessarily be the result of disagreement with specific policies and should be examined in the broader context of globalisation fears and anxieties. The article describes variations in globalisation scepticism between the group of Visegrad countries and the remaining countries of the EU as well as variations within the Visegrad group itself, focusing on the main drivers of economic globalisation – international trade, foreign direct investment, and immigration. The development of public opinion since the financial and economic crisis in 2009 indicates that Visegrad countries should not be treated as a uniform bloc of globalisation sceptics as there are significant differences in opinion between the more pessimistic Czechs and Slovaks and the more optimistic Poles and Hungarians. Their globalisation scepticism also varies across different dimensions of globalisation and is fuelled by different motivations.

Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. De Vries
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Public Preferences ◽  
Novel Theory ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is facing one of the rockiest periods in its existence. At no time in its history has it looked so economically fragile, so insecure about how to protect its borders, so divided over how to tackle the crisis of legitimacy facing its institutions, and so under assault by Eurosceptic parties. The unprecedented levels of integration in recent decades have led to increased public contestation, yet at the same the EU is more reliant on public support for its continued legitimacy than ever before. This book examines the role of public opinion in the European integration process. It develops a novel theory of public opinion that stresses the deep interconnectedness between people’s views about European and national politics. It suggests that public opinion cannot simply be characterized as either Eurosceptic or not, but rather that it consists of different types. This is important because these types coincide with fundamentally different views about the way the EU should be reformed and which policy priorities should be pursued. These types also have very different consequences for behaviour in elections and referendums. Euroscepticism is such a diverse phenomenon because the Eurozone crisis has exacerbated the structural imbalances within the EU. As the economic and political fates of member states have diverged, people’s experiences with and evaluations of the EU and national political systems have also grown further apart. The heterogeneity in public preferences that this book has uncovered makes a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing Euroscepticism unlikely to be successful.

scholarly journals Public Opinion in Europe toward the European Union

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Ringlerova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Review Articles ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) is a supranational political system that unites more than twenty-five European countries. European integration began to facilitate economic cooperation. Over time, it evolved into both an economic and political union. The progress in European integration accelerated in the 1980s and the 1990s. As a result, the European Union was established in 1993 and assumed more political power. The process of establishing the European Union was slowed by the results of a referendum in Denmark, which at first did not approve the treaty establishing the EU. This referendum made it clear that public support for European integration could no longer be taken for granted and that public attitudes toward the EU are crucial for the European Union’s future development. In other words, the era of permissive consensus ended and it became clear that public opinion has become a powerful force in the development of European integration. Since then, public opinion has had a clear influence on the direction of European integration in a number of ways. Examples of this influence include the rejection of the single European currency in Sweden, the failure of the Constitution for Europe, and, most notably, the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the EU. Public opinion has influenced European politics in other ways as well. For example, national political elites, acting at the European level, are constrained in their decisions by public opinion at home. The importance of understanding public opinion toward the EU has given rise to a lively research program. In their quest to understand citizens’ attitudes toward the EU, researchers first had to conceptualize the key concepts in this field, in particular the meaning of public support for the EU. Following this, scholars began to investigate why people support or oppose the European Union, which became the most widely studied topic in this field. In addition, studies have examined public support for specific European policies, determinants of voting in EU-related referendums, public support for EU membership in countries outside the EU, and the extent to which public opinion matters for policymaking in the EU. All these topics are included in this annotated bibliography. The section devoted to General Introductions and Review Articles lists review articles and textbook chapters that provide a quick overview of the topic as a whole. The next section, What Is Public Support for the EU and How Do We Explain It?, digs deeper into the concept of public support for the EU, asking how the concept is defined and what explains support for the EU. The following three sections deal with public opinion toward specific EU policies (Public Opinion toward Specific EU Policies), public support for the EU in nonmember states (Public Support for the EU in Candidate Countries and Other Nonmember States), and the question of public opinion’s influence on policymaking in the EU (Does Public Opinion Matter for Policymaking in the EU?). The second-to-last section is devoted to referendums on European matters (Referendums: Explaining the People’s Vote, Explaining Brexit). The last section (Data Sources) looks at data sources that can be used in the study of public attitudes toward the EU.

scholarly journals Euroscepticism – a today’s issue with tomorrow consequences

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raluca Buturoiu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Core ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Theoretical Foundations ◽  
The Eu

<p>The European Union is dominated by permanent change and diversity so that public opinion regarding different EU-related issues follows a similar trend. Within this continually changing context, there are two important interconnected things to be considered: first, public opinion towards the EU represents the core of political and academic debates over the present and future of the European integration. Second, the favorable attitudes and opinions towards the EU have increasingly changed into disapproving or sceptic attitudes in the last years. Although there are studies on Eurosceptic attitudes and their causes in almost all EU member states, only a few of them offer a clear overview of this issue. The present paper addresses four questions: What is actually Euroscepticism?; What are the faces of Euroscepticism in the EU as a whole?; How prominent are Eurosceptic attitudes in Romania?; Where do we go from here? The aim of this paper is to examine the theoretical foundations of Euroscepticism and to provide insightful information to be used in future studies.</p>

scholarly journals The Role of the Public Broadcaster in Informing Montenegrin Citizens about European Integration with Special Emphasis on Chapter 27

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-159
Author(s):  
Nataša Ružić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Special Obligation ◽  
The People ◽  
Public Broadcaster ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

As a media outlet established, funded and controlled by the public, the public broadcaster has a special obligation in regard to informing the people about topics of public interest in accordance with professional reporting standards. European integration represents one of these topics. bearing in mind the fact that Montenegro started its journey towards the European Union in 2008. So far, 32 chapters have been opened, excluding Chapter 8 which is related to competition. In recent years, public opinion polls have shown a decline in the number of Montenegrin citizens who support Montenegro’s accession to the EU. This result can be explained by the impact of Brexit and the pessimistic estimates of experts that the European Union is going to fall apart in the near future. It is clear that the media – above all the public broadcaster – plays an important role in the process of informing the public on the accession process and shaping public opinion. Therefore, this work shall be dedicated to an analysis of the public broadcaster’s reporting on Chapter 27 which is related to the environment and climate change. This chapter was chosen precisely because Montenegro defi nes itself as an ecological state.

scholarly journals Challenges of the enlargement policy in the light of European Union transformation: Is the rise of Euroscepticism in Serbia inevitable?

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-106
Author(s):  
Jelena Todorovic-Lazic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
The Public ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Public Opinion Polls ◽  
The Eu

The EU Summit in Thessaloniki in 2003 is often referred to as a milestone in the relations between the Western Balkans and the European Union because the region was given strong promises of a prospective European perspective through the Stabilization and Association Process. However, the initial enthusiasm that followed has melted over the coming years because the expectations of most countries in the region have not been met (with the exception of Croatia that became an EU member in 2013). Even though we get assurances from the Brussels that they will not give up on enlargement, it is obvious that this issue is not on the list of priorities of the EU at the moment. Not only that its decisiveness to encompass with enlargement the Western Balkans is on shaky grounds due to the numerous challenges that the EU is facing at the moment, but such decline in interest leads to a decline in interest in the countries of the mentioned region that are currently in the accession process. This further leads to the rise in Euroscepticism for which the Western Balkans is a breeding ground. The reasons for Euroscepticism existed even before the enlargement has been brushed aside from the Union agenda (those were mostly reasons related to pre-accession strategy for candidate countries/potential candidates and were present even in the case of countries of Eastern and Central Europe, even though there were also reasons specific for each of these countries.). However, it seems they have become stronger with the new developments in the Union. Incertitude of membership affects the rise of negative attitudes towards the Union in the public opinion of these countries which becomes manifest if we look at numerous public opinion polls. The focus of this paper will be the interpretation of the results of the research that the Institute for Political Studies conducted on an annual basis from 2015 to 2018.

The European Union Space Policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Sigalas
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Public Private Partnership ◽  
Space Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
The Public ◽  
Space Programs ◽  
The Eu

The European Union Space Policy (EUSP) is one of the lesser known and, consequently, little understood policies of the European Union (EU). Although the EU added outer space as one of its competences in 2009 with the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the EUSP roots go back decades earlier.Officially at least, there is no EUSP as such, but rather a European Space Policy (ESP). The ESP combines in principle space programs and competences that cut across three levels of governance: the supranational (EU), the international (intergovernmental), and the national. However, since the EU acquired treaty competences on outer space, it is clear that a nascent EUSP has emerged, even if no one yet dares calling it by its name.Currently, three EU space programs stand out: Galileo, Copernicus, and EGNOS. Galileo is probably the better known and more controversial of the three. Meant to secure European independence from the U.S. global positioning system by putting in orbit a constellation of European satellites, Galileo has been plagued by several problems. One of them was the collapse of the public–private partnership funding scheme in 2006, which nearly killed it. However, instead of marking the end of EUSP, the termination of the public–private partnership served as a catalyst in its favor. Furthermore, research findings indicate that the European Parliament envisioned an EUSP long before the European Commission published its first communication in this regard. This is a surprising yet highly interesting finding because it highlights the fact that in addition to the Commission or the European Court of Justice, the European Parliament is a thus far neglected policy entrepreneur. Overall, the development of the EUSP is an almost ideal case study of European integration by stealth, largely in line with the main principles of two related European integration theories: neofunctionalism and historical institutionalism.Since EUSP is a relatively new policy, the existing academic literature on this policy is also limited. This has also to do with the degree of public interest in outer space in general. Outer space’s popularity reached its heyday during the Cold War era. Today space, in Europe and in other continents, has to compete harder than ever for public attention and investment. Still, research on European space cooperation is growing, and there are reasons to be optimistic about its future.

scholarly journals Communicating European Archives: Challenges, Strategies and Tools

Atlanti ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-15
Author(s):  
Dieter Schlenker
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Trade Association ◽  
Digital Archives ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Free Trade Association ◽  
Historical Archives ◽  
The Eu

This article outlines the insights gained during the establishment of a communications strategy for the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) in Florence. The article reflects on how key messages of a unique transnational European archives are construed from its mission, legal framework and in close collaboration with EU institutional archives services. It also sheds light on how to identify a specific European target audience for the Archives and other key elements of a communications strategy for a European archives.The HAEU is the official home for the historical documents of the European Union Institutions, Bodies and Agencies. It is part of the European University Institute, a unique academic hub for doctoral and post-doctoral European studies. It houses, at Villa Salviati in Florence, seven kilometres of paper and digital archives as well as rich audio-visual and oral history collections documenting the historical process of European integration and cooperation. The EU-institutional archives are made accessible to the public after 30 years.The HAEU also hosts 160 deposits of private papers from eminent European political leaders, EU officials and pioneers in the European integration process, and a unique collection of archives of pro-Eu-ropean movements and non-EU organisations with a European scope, such as the European Space Agen-cy and the European Free Trade Association.

scholarly journals Differentiated Support of the EU Enlargement in the Public Opinion: A Multivariate LISREL Analysis

Geografie ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Veronika Tománková
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Structural Equations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Clear Support

This paper provides an analysis of the public opinion in the EU countries concerning further enlargement. Public opinion plays an important role in the current integration processes and is an integral part of the research concerning the European Union. The differentiation in the support for the EU enlargement across 25 countries can be explained by the multivariate LISREL (linear structural equations) analysis that makes possible to identify a causal system through the explanatory model. The model includes structural and public opinion variables in the set of the twenty-five EU member states. Multivariate statistical analysis shows a low public opinion support for the EU enlargement in rich states and, on the other hand, a clear support in a group of post-communist member states.

In Search of Acceptance

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Grimm
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Maastricht Treaty ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Eu

This chapter argues that the European Union suffers from a legitimacy deficit and explains how it can gain acceptance from its citizens. In the beginning, there were good reasons for European integration. Approval was high, but that high approval has been lost. With respect to integration, the 1992 Maastricht Treaty marked the beginning of the EU’s weak acceptance. In the long run it fostered the spread of anti-European political parties. This chapter considers the various proposals aimed at bringing the EU closer to its citizens, including a full parliamentarization of the EU, before making its own recommendations: first, the European Parliament must be brought closer to the public; second, there must be clearer limits on communalization; and third, decisions with significant political implications must be re-politicized. The point is not to abandon constitutionalization, but to draw proper conclusions from the constitutionalization that has already taken place.

scholarly journals Self-Government at the Court of Justice of the European Union: A Bedrock for Institutional Success

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 2007-2030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Krenn
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Administrative Governance ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis contribution deals with a topic that has so far received scant attention: the administrative governance of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Over the course of the last 65 years, the CJEU has developed its own particular version of judicial self-government. This article analyzes its genesis, its characteristic features and provides a comprehensive assessment. Three arguments are put forward: First, self-government at the CJEU can be associated with a number of positive effects for the Court as an institution. It contributes to keeping the Court out of the public limelight, to fostering its judicial authority vis-à-vis key compliance constituencies and to securing its judicial independence. Second, while strong forms of judicial self-government can lead to a lack of transparency and accountability, these problematic side effects have been largely avoided at the CJEU. This is, in many respects, due to the dialogic accountability relationship that has been established with the European Parliament in the context of the EU budgetary process. Nevertheless, third, as regards more recent developments, such as the establishment of an expert panel for selecting new CJEU members and the Court's legislative role in amending its own Statute, from the perspective of transparency, room for improvement exists.

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