Euroscepticism as a syndrome of stagnation? Regional inequality and trust in the EU

TY - JOUR

T1 - Euroscepticism as a syndrome of stagnation? Regional inequality and trust in the EU

AU - Vasilopoulou, Sofia

AU - Talving, Liisa

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2023/10/6

Y1 - 2023/10/6

N2 - This article advances the literature on the spatial patterns of EU support by arguing that the relationship between regional inequality and EU trust is not linear. We posit that, to fully understand this relationship, we should systematically investigate three dimensions of regional inequality, i.e., regional wealth status, regional wealth growth, and regional wealth growth at different levels of wealth status. Using individual-level survey data for EU27 countries and the UK from 11 Eurobarometer waves (2015–2019), we show that a non-linear association exists whereby poor and rich European regions tend to trust the EU more compared to middle-income regions, and that within-region over-time growth is associated with higher levels of EU trust. We demonstrate that the association between growth and EU trust is more pronounced among poor and middle-income regions compared to rich regions. Our findings have implications about the nature of public Euroscepticism and the ways in which to address it.

AB - This article advances the literature on the spatial patterns of EU support by arguing that the relationship between regional inequality and EU trust is not linear. We posit that, to fully understand this relationship, we should systematically investigate three dimensions of regional inequality, i.e., regional wealth status, regional wealth growth, and regional wealth growth at different levels of wealth status. Using individual-level survey data for EU27 countries and the UK from 11 Eurobarometer waves (2015–2019), we show that a non-linear association exists whereby poor and rich European regions tend to trust the EU more compared to middle-income regions, and that within-region over-time growth is associated with higher levels of EU trust. We demonstrate that the association between growth and EU trust is more pronounced among poor and middle-income regions compared to rich regions. Our findings have implications about the nature of public Euroscepticism and the ways in which to address it.

KW - EU trust

KW - Euroscepticism

KW - geography

KW - inequality

KW - wealth growth

KW - wealth status

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85173769699&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/13501763.2023.2264891

DO - 10.1080/13501763.2023.2264891

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85173769699

SN - 1350-1763

JO - Journal of European Public Policy

JF - Journal of European Public Policy

ER -