Populism and Public Support to the European Union

Abstract

This panel focuses public opinion on the European Union as well as on attitudes towards trade agreements in general. The first paper on this panel looks at how the 2008 economic crisis influenced attitudes towards the EU. Using data from a survey experiment collected in Spain, it uncovers the mechanisms through which attitudes towards the EU became more Eurosceptic after the economic crisis. The second paper on this panel looks at how individuals’ emotions and populist rhetoric interact in the formation of attitudes towards the EU. Using survey-experimental data collected in Greece, the paper finds that emotions do play a role in reception of populist rhetoric and that they affect the process of formation of attitudes towards the EU. The last paper looks at the sources of attitudes towards a free trade agreement (the TTIP). It examines which of the two popular arguments for and against the TTIP provides a stronger source of public opinion towards the TTIP.