The growing political importance and politicization of the European Union (EU) among member states has sparked increased scholarly interest in understanding citizens' attitudes toward the EU. A mounting number of papers have proposed theoretical accounts to explain the likely causes and consequences of EU attitudes.
Yet, this emphasis on covariates of EU attitudes has outpaced the conceptualization of EU attitudes as such. Paired with the ever-increasing cost of surveys, a sizeable share of the literature draws on data from cross-national survey projects like the Eurobarometer and the European Social Survey. Despite their prevalence, we still know very little about what the different available items capture and how they relate to each other.
This paper aims to fill this gap through a research synthesis and original analysis. First, we review existing conceptualizations and measures of EU attitudes to map the theoretical landscape. Next, we harmonize Eurobarometer data from 2000 to 2020 to compare how trends and patterns in EU attitudes vary by item across countries. Using regression models, we examine how inferences on covariates shift over time and across national contexts. Finally, we investigate associations between those items in an EU-meaning item battery, uncovering nuanced interrelations and significant cross-country heterogeneity. These findings contribute to a more robust understanding of EU attitudes and highlight practical implications for survey design and comparative research.
