Public Perceptions and Misperceptions of Political Authority in the European Union

What kind of misperceptions do citizens have when it comes to political authority in the EU? And what are the characteristics of individuals that hold misperceptions? This paper sheds light on these questions and presents results of a population based survey that was conducted in France, France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, and Spain (about N=1000 per country). We know little about the level of knowledge that Europeans have about the EU and the extent to which they might be misinformed. Misperceptions are however fertile ground for the spread of misinformation and “Euro myths”. Such myths can play a particularly important role when they are mobilised in a populist fashion. About two thirds of respondents know that MEPs are directly elected. Every second respondent knows that EU legislation cannot be passed against the will of the EP. A third of respondents knows that the European Commission cannot pass legislation against the will of a majority of member states. A substantively important share of respondents also holds nontrivial misperceptions. One in five respondents believe that MEPs are not directly elected. An even larger share of respondents believes that the European Commission could overrule the will of a majority of member states. We build on the American public opinion and political psychology literatures to theorize why citizens hold misperceptions. What we find is that interest in politics does not differentiate those with correct and incorrect perceptions much from one another, but it sets these groups of respondents apart from individuals who have no views on the matter. We also find evidence for motivated reasoning. Citizens’ predispositions shape how they perceive the political system of the EU: individuals who do not think of themselves as European (i.e. those who only identify with their nation) are more likely to hold misperceptions.