Description du projet
Une enquête sur les attitudes envers l’Europe sociale
L’Union européenne (UE) se concentre sur le renforcement de sa dimension sociale, situation qui s’est traduite par la proclamation du socle européen des droits sociaux en 2017. Toutefois, il reste quelques incertitudes sur les conséquences réelles de la demande d’une Europe sociale et quant à savoir si les citoyens européens soutiendront l’élaboration de politiques à l’échelle de l’UE pour protéger et renforcer les droits sociaux en Europe. Le projet EUSOCDIV, financé par l’UE, explorera les attitudes des citoyens envers les différentes interprétations de l’Europe sociale et de la solidarité entre les États membres. L’objectif consiste à évaluer les préoccupations des citoyens et examiner à quel point ils soutiennent les mesures politiques à l’échelle de l’UE pour protéger et renforcer les droits sociaux.
Objectif
Political leaders of the European Union increasingly believe that a ‘Social Europe’ is indispensable for the continuation of the European project. Even though the course towards a more Social Europe is set, it remains unclear what the notion of Social Europe actually means, as it can refer to very different policy objectives and instruments. This is a problem since citizens’ support is crucial to democratic decision-making but is also unclear amidst opinions about specific interpretations of Social Europe. That problem is compounded by the lack of scholarly attention to how different citizen interpretations of Social Europe interact and vary across EU member states. This project aims to redress this major scholarly silence, by theoretically and empirically exploring citizens’ attitudes towards various interpretations of Social Europe. Specifically, it aims to unveil (1) to what extent European citizens are concerned about the protection of existing social rights and their further development, (2) to what extent Europeans support the development of EU-level policies to protect and enhance social rights (rather than only relying on domestic social policies in the member states to do so), (3) which combinations of policy measures, reflecting different underlying notions of ‘Social Europe’, are most supported by European publics, and (4) what dividing lines exist regarding these supportive attitudes within and across EU member states. To this end, the project relies on a unique combination of four different large-scale opinion surveys. The empirical results will deepen understanding of the stumbling blocks to consolidating and improving the welfare state and the European Union and identify pathways to strengthen the EU’s social dimension in a way that is supported by European publics. As such, the project clarifies the viability of Social Europe as a political project.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinateur
1012WX Amsterdam
Pays-Bas