Attitudes towards the eu among young people in eastern Germany, Greece, and the UK: Embedding survey data within socio-historical context

Abstract

This chapter explores the attitudes of young people to the EU in carefully chosen research locations in Greece, Germany and the UK. Euroscepticism in Britain has been fuelled by populist discourses. On the other hand, European identity has been part of German identity since World War Two. For Greece, EU membership has been seen as a road to modernisation and democratization but macro-economic developments and sovereign debt led to externally imposed austerity during the last decade which has hit young Greeks hardest. The ensuing Euroscepticism in Greece includes redistributive ideological perspectives from the left and nationalistic discourses on the right. Using MYPLACE survey data, this chapter examines the distinctiveness of attitudes towards the EU among youth from contrasting locations within these three countries.