Public Support for European Solidarity: Between Euroscepticism and EU Agenda Preferences?

This article investigates public support for two types of EU-wide solidarity that currently exist, namely member state solidarity (such as transfers to less developed and crisis-hit countries) and transnational solidarity (such as granting cross-border social rights to EU citizens). Drawing on data from the 2014 Belgian National Election Study, we find that opposition towards European integration - in particular regarding EU enlargement - reduces citizens' willingness to support European solidarity to a large extent. However, this article reveals that public support for European solidarity cannot simply be reduced to a pro-versus anti-integration, nor to a domestic left-right conflict. Citizens' substantive positions towards the EU's social and economic agenda are a crucial element in understanding contestation over European integration issues.