Abstract

FREIRE, André  and  MOURY, Catherine. ‘Citizens’ and ‘elites’ support for the EU, before and after the financial crisis: the Southern European peripheries (Greece, Portugal, and Spain) in comparative perspective. Relações Internacionais [online]. 2014, n.41, pp.97-122. ISSN 1645-9199.

Relying on data from the Euroba-rometer and the INTUNE project, the present paper studies the effects of the 2008 economic crisis on the support to the European Union, both among citizens and their representatives, in Greece, Portugal and Spain, and comparatively, in the remaining EU countries (EU27 or EU17). The paper discloses the fact that the financial crisis entailed a significant decrease in the confidence levels of the citizens towards the EU, although this effect is not immediate. After controlling for a variety of explanations, it has been made plain that the effect of the economic crisis between 2007 and 2009 is visible only among the political elites and only as regards their level of attachment to the EU.

Keywords : European Union; Southern Europe; representation; citizens.

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