Public Opinion towards the Eurozone and the European Union after a Tumultuous Decade
The recent crises of the European Union have exposed a functional demand for the integration of core state powers and exposed the continued vulnerabilities of the Eurozone in particular. Despite the pronounced functional demand for institutional reforms, political supply has remained meagre at best. Even during the worst time of the Euro crisis, fiscal capacity building through the European Stability Mechanism or the Outright Monetary Transactions programme of the European Central Bank was highly contested, and invariably late. Today, many reform proposals exist that either suggest the further integration of core state powers through the sharing they key resources of sovereign government (money, coercion, and administration) or (institutional) changes to the design of the Eurozone and/or European Union. Yet, we know very little about what voters think about the integration of core state powers or (institutional) reforms. This information is hard to get from existing surveys such as the Eurobarometer or the European election study because they do not contain specific questions about these issues. In my research I, therefore, use novel surveys and survey experiments to find out what voters think and what explains these preferences.
Publications:
- Juncker’s curse? Identity, interest and public support for the integration of core state powers. Journal of Common Market Studies, 58(1):56-75 (with Philipp Genschel and Markus Jachtenfuchs).
Work in progress:
- “Up for grabs? Preferences for Eurozone membership and exit in Italy” (with Lucio Baccaro and Erik Neimanns)