The Influence of the Nation-State on Individual Support for the European Union

The paper seeks to explain variations in EU support, arguing that several factors might influence public opinion about the European Union. National factors are believed to be more important than European ones because of a lack of knowledge about the EU and the more direct influence of the nation-state on citizens. It is argued that the evaluation of the EU depends on the performance of the nation-state. The citizens' perception of the nation-state is used as a proxy for the formulation of attitudes towards the EU. The results of diverse exogeneity tests and a three-stage least-square regression confirm that support for the EU reflects national attitudes, and shows that the EU represents the hope of surmounting national problems.