A longitudinal study of euroscepticism in the Netherlands: 2008 versus 1990

Abstract

With a unique longitudinal data set covering a time-span of 18 years, we test to what extent euroscepticism evolved among the Dutch between 1990 and 2008. We compare Eurosceptic attitudes on the eve of the signing of the Treaty of Maastricht with attitudes after the Dutch 'no' in the referendum on the European Constitution. We find a strong increase in euroscepticism among the Dutch. This change did not develop evenly across the educational strata. We propose to explain these differences through the utilitarian, political cueing, political cynicism and identity approaches. Over the years, the less educated have become more cynical about politics and have come to perceive a greater ethnic threat than before, which explains their stronger increase in euroscepticism. In contrast to 1990, perceived ethnic threat was the main predictor of euroscepticism in 2008.

Euroscepticism and education: A longitudinal study of 12 EU member states, 1973–2010

“…This negative relationship between education and euroscepticism has generally been explained by socioeconomic, socio-cultural and political factors (Hooghe and Marks, 2005;Loveless and Rohrschneider, 2008;Lubbers and Jaspers, 2011). The central question of our study is whether the relationship between euroscepticism and education has grown stronger over time in Western Europe.…”

Collective self-continuity, group identification and in-group defense

“…Research has shown that resistance to further European integration is growing in various European countries, and that it is particularly strong in the Netherlands (Lubbers & Scheepers, 2010). In many European countries this issue has been increasingly framed and perceived as a threat to the continuation of national identity (Lubbers & Jaspers, 2011). Eurosceptic politicians and commentators have been warning for the creation of a European super state, in which different national identities would be lost.…”

Euroscepticism Re‐galvanized: The Consequences of the 2005 French and Dutch Rejections of the EU Constitution

“…In the Netherlands, attitudes towards the EU have become more negative since the early 1990s and notably at a faster pace than in the other Member States (Huijts and De Graaf, 2007; Lubbers and Scheepers, 2007, 2010). The referendum of 2005 elevated the levels of party conflict over EU integration and increased the issue salience of Europe for voters (see De Vries, 2009, p. 163; Lubbers and Jaspers, 2011, p. 36). The referendum also impacted on the 2006 elections, in which the anti‐Treaty parties gained significantly.…”

“…These developments in the context of a global economic crisis (with the eurozone in a perilous state) (see Serricchio et al . in this issue) are increasingly putting tremendous strain on the European project as a whole (see Lubbers and Jaspers, 2011, p. 36).…”