Public perceptions of the European power hierarchy and support for a single European security and defense policy

Abstract

Many studies focus on overall support for European integration while less work has been done on explaining public opinion on specific policy areas, such as security and defense policy. We hypothesize that the probability of supporting a single European security and defense policy increases with greater levels of trust in the European Union member states, most notably the more powerful members such as Germany. This variable is critical since integration’s development is influenced strongly by, and dependent on, the resources of the relatively more powerful European member states. Regression analyses using pooled repeated cross-sectional data from the Eurobarometer surveys conducted from 1992 to 1997 among individuals of 11 member states largely support these preliminary claims.