What Citizens Want from Europe: The Role of Ideology and Region in Shaping EU Preferences

This study investigates citizens’ visions of the European Union (EU) and how these preferences are shaped by both ideology and region. Much of the existing scholarship on EU integration preferences implicitly assumes homogeneity across European regions, yet this approach masks important regional variation. I argue that the effects of ideology are not consistent across the EU. For example, conservative voters in Southern Europe differ substantially from their counterparts in Eastern, Central, and Northern Europe, a divergence that, I suggest, stems from differences in national policy priorities. Drawing on data from the Solidarity in Europe (SiE) dataset, which includes up to 130,000 observations collected between 2017 and 2024, I analyze how ideology and regional context interact across nine key policy areas, including social policy, economic governance, defense, taxation, and immigration. The results reveal significant regional variation in the ideological determinants of EU preferences. Whereas conservative voters in Northern Europe tend to favor stronger EU involvement in immigration policy, conservatives in Southern Europe are more supportive of expanding European social security mechanisms. These findings underscore the importance of accounting for both ideological and regional dimensions to fully understand the diversity of citizen preferences toward European integration.