written by
Natili, Marcello ; Ronchi, Stefano ; Visconti, Francesco
Invisible social Europe? Linking citizens’ awareness of European cohesion funds, individual power resources, and support for the EU – Journal of European Social Policy
01/11/2023
scritto da
Natili, Marcello ; Ronchi, Stefano ; Visconti, Francesco

Abstract:

In the twentieth century national social policies stabilized the European state systems, favouring domestic concordance and citizens’ support to the nation-building process. Welfare institutions have historically served this key political function also in federal systems, where social citizenship has been used as a tool to foster unity. In contrast, even though the EU devotes a consistent part of its (however limited) budget to social cohesion and inclusion programmes, it takes little credit for such efforts. Building on original survey data on public opinion collected in 2019 across ten EU countries, this article shows that, indeed, only a limited number of citizens are aware of the social role played by the EU in their local community. On the other hand, it demonstrates that citizens’ awareness of EU programmes strengthens the individual perception of power resources stemming from euro-social initiatives, the feeling of ‘being heard’ by the EU and, ultimately, the support for the European integration project as a whole. By implication, increasing the relevance and visibility of euro-social programmes could possibly reinforce the very foundations of the EU.

To cite this article:

Natili, M., Ronchi, S., & Visconti, F. (2023). Invisible social Europe? Linking citizens’ awareness of European cohesion funds, individual power resources, and support for the EU. Journal of European Social Policy, 33(5), 570-582. https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287231210727

#EU cohesion funds #European Union #power resources #public opinion #Social Europe
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partners
This project is funded with a Synergy Grant by the European Research Council under Grant Agreement n. 810356. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.