European identity and citizens' support for the EU: Testing the utilitarian approach

Despite Cohesion Policy representing one-third of the EU budget, research on the role of EU Cohesion Policy in promoting the European identity is still scarce. Taking stock of a new dataset of citizens' support for and identification with the EU identity at the regional level, we aim to answer to the following questions: what are the determinants of support and identification with EU? Do EU fiscal transfers affect public support for the EU and the European identity? Do citizens' awareness about the Cohesion Policy play a role in it? We find that attitudes towards the EU are driven by individuals' perceptions of the economy in their region and of the effectiveness of EU institutions in solving the regional problems. We don't find evidence of a Cohesion Policy effect, but it provides useful indications for further research.