Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EUSOCDIV (Public attitudes towards Social Europe: Diverging interpretations and support within and across EU member states?)
Período documentado: 2019-09-01 hasta 2021-08-31
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. To redress this major scholarly silence, this project theoretically and empirically explores citizens’ attitudes towards various interpretations of Social Europe.
Specifically, the research objectives have been 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
(4) what dividing lines exist regarding these supportive attitudes within and across EU member states.
Specifically, the research objectives have been 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
(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 five large-scale cross-national opinion surveys; the European Social Survey, the Eurobarometer, the European Unemployment Risk Sharing Survey, the Joint Pharmaceutical Procurement Conjoint, and the REScEU Mass Survey. The latter three surveys have been organised by the host institutions of the action; the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the University of Milan (UMIL). Altogether, these five surveys yielded a enormous richness of data on the public attitudes towards various dimensions of Social Europe, enabling an unprecedented level of detail in the analysis.
The results of the action show that Europeans citizens care about the protection of existing social rights and their further development. However, the role of the European Union in protecting social rights is not uncontested. While many Europeans welcome greater efforts of the EU in protecting social rights, the public support depends on three major factors; the policy design, individual characteristics and contextual factors. With respect to the policy design, the analyses identify important sensitivities in the architecture of policies for European unemployment risk sharing as well as joint procurement for EU medicines. For instance, reciprocity and medical need tend to increase support for European solidarity. However, the actions also reveals that relative sensitivities as well as the actual level of support for specific EU social policies depend on citizens’ socio-economic status, ideological beliefs and deservingness perceptions of needy groups. However, the diving lines are not always clear-cut. Combining data on attitudes towards different components of Social Europe confirms that Social Europe is a multidimensional construct that cannot be reduced to a pro- versus anti-Social Europe attitude. Depending on which particular dimension is at stake, differing rationales and sensitivities rise to the surface. Finally, the action uncovers that contextual factors, most notably the welfare provisions which citizens currently enjoy at the domestic level and whether to which one’s country financially benefits from the EU budget, shape their visions as well as concerns and aspirations with respect to the future of Social Europe.
The research results were disseminated so far at various international (virtual) conferences and workshops (ESPAnet Conference, ECPR General Conference, Standing Group of the European Union, International Council for European Studies, Health in Europe Meeting, GESIS Interdisciplinary Workshop ‘Measuring European solidarity) and through published articles in high-ranking peer-reviewed journals in the discipline of political science and sociology (Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of Common Market Studies, Social Policy & Administration). More articles on this action are expected to be published in the coming months.
The results of the action show that Europeans citizens care about the protection of existing social rights and their further development. However, the role of the European Union in protecting social rights is not uncontested. While many Europeans welcome greater efforts of the EU in protecting social rights, the public support depends on three major factors; the policy design, individual characteristics and contextual factors. With respect to the policy design, the analyses identify important sensitivities in the architecture of policies for European unemployment risk sharing as well as joint procurement for EU medicines. For instance, reciprocity and medical need tend to increase support for European solidarity. However, the actions also reveals that relative sensitivities as well as the actual level of support for specific EU social policies depend on citizens’ socio-economic status, ideological beliefs and deservingness perceptions of needy groups. However, the diving lines are not always clear-cut. Combining data on attitudes towards different components of Social Europe confirms that Social Europe is a multidimensional construct that cannot be reduced to a pro- versus anti-Social Europe attitude. Depending on which particular dimension is at stake, differing rationales and sensitivities rise to the surface. Finally, the action uncovers that contextual factors, most notably the welfare provisions which citizens currently enjoy at the domestic level and whether to which one’s country financially benefits from the EU budget, shape their visions as well as concerns and aspirations with respect to the future of Social Europe.
The research results were disseminated so far at various international (virtual) conferences and workshops (ESPAnet Conference, ECPR General Conference, Standing Group of the European Union, International Council for European Studies, Health in Europe Meeting, GESIS Interdisciplinary Workshop ‘Measuring European solidarity) and through published articles in high-ranking peer-reviewed journals in the discipline of political science and sociology (Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of Common Market Studies, Social Policy & Administration). More articles on this action are expected to be published in the coming months.
The empirical results deepen our understanding of the stumbling blocks to consolidating and reforming 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.