EU citizens want more justice and participation

Prof Bernd Schlipphak and Prof Oliver Treib ( from left ) © IfPol - Matthias Freise What are European citizens' ideal visions of the European Union (EU)- According to an international study undertaken by political scientists from the University of Münster, people across all countries studied primarily support more participation and justice. "The public acceptance of laws issued by the EU increases if people have more say in decision-making, if they receive more information about the decision-making process, and if the outcome benefits all member states equally," Bernd Schlipphak, a political science professor from the University of Münster's Institute of Political Science, explains. Together with his colleague, professor Oliver Treib, he surveyed a total of 12,000 citizens in a selection of six EU member states (Germany, France, Poland, Hungary, Denmark and Spain). In the survey, respondents were confronted with a variety of configurations of the EU in order to find out what people's ideal EU looked like. According to Oliver Treib, the research team discovered some surprising commonalities among European citizens. "Although respondents had different views on which policy issues the EU should primarily tackle, people across all countries agreed that the EU should concentrate on addressing global challenges such as climate change, migration, security and international trade." People were significantly more divided over the balance of powers between the EU and its member states.