Does Mobility Matter for Attitudes to Europe? A Multi-level Analysis of Immigrants' Attitudes to European Unification
| Published date | 01 June 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2010.00871.x |
| Date | 01 June 2011 |
| Author | Antje Roeder |
| Subject Matter | Research Note |
RESEARCH NOTE
Does Mobility Matter for Attitudes to Europe? A
Multi-level Analysis of Immigrants’ Attitudes to
European Unificationpost_871458..471
Antje Roeder
Trinity College Dublin
Support for Europe is largely argued to be based on the self-interest of individuals as well as being influenced by their
national identity.Relatively little is known,however,about the attitudes of immig rants regardingEurope, although they
form a growing part of the European population and are strongly affected by Europeanpolicies. In this article, attitudes
of immigrants towards European unification are analysed to determine how far they differ fromthe native population
and between immigrants from different regions. The main theories on attitudes towards Europe wouldpredict overall
more positive attitudes.Fir st, self-interest should lead migrants to evaluate Europe more favourably,as cer tain groups
in particular have gained from it in the past mainly in terms of enhanced mobility and legal rights as immigrants, and
can realistically expect to gain more in the future.Secondly, being an immigrant as opposed to a native citizen can be
expected to have an impact on national identities,with the supranational level likely to be more attractive to people
with multiple national affiliations. Findings confirm this, and highlight that migration status, region of origin and
citizenship status are important predictors of attitudes. Furthermore,explanatory factor s relatedto economic interests,
which have been shown to be of major importance for natives,matter less for immigrants. It would appear that issues
related to mobility and a less exclusively defined national identity maybe of more importance for immig rants’ attitudes
than socio-economic position.
Keywords: European integration; mig ration; mobility; Euroscepticism
Despite many delays and difficulties, European integration has been progressing, and the
enlargement of the European Union is likely to continue.It has often been claimed that the
European project is largely an aspiration of political elites, and that unification and
enlargement are not always supported by the population (Vetik, 2003). Indeed it cannot be
denied that there is quite widespread Euroscepticism among certain groups of the popu-
lation ( Weßels, 2007), which most recently and prominently found its expression in
Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in the first referendum (Quinlan, 2009).Often this
is due to people’s fear about losing out economically and in terms of political influence
(Anderson and Reichert, 1996; Eichenberg and Dalton, 2007). Also the European Union
aspires to be more than an economic and political cooperation, and the European identity
at times competes with national and regional identities, fuelling fears that cultural differ-
ences will be levelled as a result (Carey, 2002).Who, then, supports Europe, and why?
Political attitudes are argued to be primarily the outcome of rational processes based on
self-interest and ideational processes that are linked to emotional and affective attachments
doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2010.00871.x
POLITICAL STUDIES: 2011 VOL 59, 458–471
© 2011The Author.Political Studies © 2011 Political Studies Association
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