One Union, Two Universes? Critical Perception of the EU in Six EU Member States

Abstract

Future of European integration is increasingly more discussed in current Europe. In the project “Comprehending and Debating Euroscepticism” we studied Euroscepticism among ordinary citizens and how this can be addressed on local level. This discussion paper summarizes the citizens’ discussions. Overall, in its first phase the project conducted debates with almost 400 citizens in six member states of the EU: Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia. According to citizens, the main benefits of the EU are the four basic freedoms, most of all freedom to travel and work in other parts of the Union. Most criticized were the European funds as the source of corruption, migration crisis as an example of the Union’s failure to protect itself, and the feeling of second-class citizenship in the post-communist societies. In the discussion section we relate our findings to the debate on the future of the European integration, particularly the idea of differentiated integration.