EU fiscal transfers to recover from Covid-19? The role of crisis-specific factors in explaining public attitudes

To mitigate the enormous and asymmetric economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU has adopted an unprecedented €750 billion fiscal transfer programme, financed by joint member state liabilities. The highly contested decision pitted ‘frugal’ northern member states against ‘profligate’ southern member states. But do the citizens from northern countries view EU transfers as unfavourably as their governmental positions suggest? The paper focuses on the Netherlands, whose government has become the assertive leader of the ‘frugal’ coalition. We test COVID-19 specific explanations based on a large-scale survey fielded at the height of the pandemic. Our analysis suggests that citizens who experience the health effects of the pandemic are more supportive of redistribution, while those who believe that COVID-19 is a conspiracy are less supportive.