National Fragmentation Caspar van den Berg, PhD Leiden University, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

European Unification and National Fragmentation Caspar van den Berg, PhD Leiden University, Campus The Hague

European Fragmentation • An uneven distribution of benefits of European integration is partly normal and inevitable in a market economy, but it should remain within some bounds or it will come to undermine the European project from a democratic and electoral point of view. • There is a wide literature indicating that the more people are or feel left behind socio-economically, the more they are inclined to turn their back on European integration. • Debatable whether EU integration is really the cause of their worsened situation, but politically this is of secondary relevance.

Landscape of citizenship styles in WE

Landscape of citizenship styles in WE “The Responsible ”: participating and interactive “The Dutiful ”: Low on “The Pragmatists ”: information and Informed and reactive communication “The Outsiders”: Uninterested and eruptive

Reasons for concern • Categories of Pragmatists and Outsiders are growing, categories of Responsible and Dutiful are shrinking • Within Outsiders and Pragmatists , anti-EU sentiment is also growing • If this trend continues, popular support for the EU will shrink to levels at which EU membership becomes very difficult to sustain democratically.

How to remedy this? • Communicative strategies? They alone do not suffice: – Have been tried without success (referenda) – No incentive structure for national politicians to advocate the benefits of the EU • Different strategies necessary to win Outsiders and Pragmatists

Different strategies to win back… Outsiders Pragmatists • Identity-related strategies • Democratization: – Strenghtening visibility and – EU Parliament: EU-wide securing survival of collective political parties? they FIRSTLY identify with – National parliaments: • Economy-related strategies Upgrade their role in – Economic recovery will have a scrutinizing European positive effect, but more Commission? redistribution is not the way to boost the economy. – Other? • Other?