Citizens, immigration and the EU as a shield
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Author | Nicolò Conti,Vincenzo Memoli,Danilo Di Mauro |
| DOI | 10.1177/1465116519834648 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Citizens, immigration
and the EU as a shield
Nicolo
`Conti
Department of Law and Economics, Unitelma Sapienza
University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Danilo Di Mauro
Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of
Catania, Catania, Italy
Vincenzo Memoli
Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of
Catania, Catania, Italy
Abstract
In recent years, the number of immigrants reaching the EU has grown dramatically. The
migration crisis and its political repercussions have been felt with different intensity
across Europe. In this critical situation, EU-level coordination has proved problematic
due to the nested interests of the member states. This article addresses the problem of
public support for an integrated EU immigration policy. Using data from the
EUENGAGE project, we explore citizens’ attitudes towards EU-level coordination of
immigration, and we introduce a set of theoretical arguments that aim to explain their
attitudes. We show that those subjects who are more frightened by immigrants and
who demand stricter policy and greater protection from unwanted migration are
keener to delegate policy competence to the EU in this field.
Keywords
EU, immigration, immigration policy, public opinion
Corresponding author:
Nicolo
`Conti, Department of Law and Economics, Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena
295 00161, Rome, Italy.
Email: nicolo.conti@unitelmasapienza.it
European Union Politics
2019, Vol. 20(3) 492–510
!The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/1465116519834648
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Introduction
In 2015, more than one million people arrived in Europe after crossing the
Mediterranean Sea, a huge increase from 250,000 in 2014 and 60,000 in 2013.
Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos declared ‘the world finds itself
facing the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War and Europe finds itself
struggling to deal with the high influxes of people seeking refuge within our bor-
ders’.
1
This critical scenario has made immigration a more salient issue in many
European Union (EU) countries: according to Eurobarometer data, since 2015,
immigration has been seen by citizens as the most important issue currently facing
the EU.
2
The connection often made between immigration, crime and terrorism
(Fitzgerald et al., 2012) has contributed to spreading moral panic within society
and to bringing the immigration issue to the top of the agenda.
Despite an extensive literature on public attitudes towards immigration (see
Freeman et al., 2015), as documented in a comprehensive review by Kentmen-Cin
and Erisen (2017: 9–10), studies on citizens’ attitudes towards an integrated immi-
gration policy in Europe are very rare. In broad terms, some have argued that
attitudes towards immigration and support for EU integration are positively related
(Azrout and Wojcieszak, 2017; De Vreese and Boomgaarden, 2005; Lubbers and
Coenders, 2017), but this relationship has remained underexplored overall and,
most importantly, it is not always updated with the most recent events. Erisen
and Kentmen-Cin’s recent work (2017) is the main exception: they show that the
perceived economic, security and cultural threats of different immigrant groups
sustain public attitudes towards the creation of a common EU immigration
policy. The main aim of this article is to understand the levels of public support
(for a larger group of countries) for an integrated immigration policy at EU level:
Under what conditions would citizens agree to support an EU-wide immigration
policy? Notably, we are interested in understanding if,how and why citizens would
be ready to support greater EU coordination in this policy field. We hypothesise that
people who perceive immigrants as a threat would be more inclined to support
greater EU action to share the burden of their presence. Our analysis benefits
from the availability of original data from the EUENGAGE survey of public opin-
ion in 10 member states that was specifically designed to test people’s reactions to the
most urgent challenges facing the EU. Through this study, we find confirmation for
our expectations and we conclude that public support for EU policy competence in
immigration should not be sought from those segments of society that believe immi-
grants generate more benefits than costs. Rather it should be sought in those sectors
that display more negative attitudes and feel more threatened by immigrants.
Attitudes towards immigration and support for European
policy coordination: Defining some hypotheses
The determinants of attitudes towards immigration have been investigated by schol-
ars of different disciplines. From the abundant literature in this field, socialisation
Conti et al. 493
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