Transnational solidarity among political elites: what determines support for financial redistribution within the EU in times of crisis?

Abstract

As a consequence of the European Economic Crisis, the European Union (EU) has implanted mechanisms to assist fellow member states facing economic difficulties. Despite an increasing academic interest in public preferences for such intra-EU solidarity measures, research has so far largely ignored individual characteristics that could possibly influence politicians’ views. In this paper, we look at politicians’ preferences for transnational solidarity and argue that these preferences depend on attitudes regarding socioeconomic issues as well as attitudes related to the EU. Moreover, we hypothesize that the relationship is moderated by responsibility attribution and the economic situation in a country. Using survey data of about 4000 politicians running for office in nine EU countries, we find that transnational solidarity is more common for socioeconomically left-wing and pro-EU politicians. Yet, attitudinal differences only cease to matter when the beneficiary state is perceived responsible for the crisis and economic problems at home are low.

All for One, and One for All? Analysing Party Positions on EU Solidarity in Germany in Challenging Times

“…Just as GAL parties usually advocate for more EU integration and a globalized future, they are also expected to do the same regarding EU solidarity. This supposition has already been supported more specifically to financial aid in the event of an economic crisis (Reinl and Giebler 2021) and we assume that it also applies to other forms of European solidarity. Based on this, we formulate our first hypothesis:…”

“…However, with the founding of the AfD in 2013, the political space broadened during the euro crisis and Eurosceptic sentiments even grew against the backdrop of the 2015 migration crisis (Bremer and Schulte-Cloos 2019). Moreover, the radical left party (Left Party, Die Linke) opposes the EU in terms of market integration and austerity policies but supports EU integration with regard to social issues and EU solidarity in particular (Pellegata and Visconti 2022; Reinl and Giebler 2021). Thus, support or rejection of EU solidarity is crucial for understanding the political contestation of European issues in the German party system and how different types of solidarity may reflect the ‘conflictual dissensus’ on European integration (Hooghe and Marks 2009).…”

“…These refer to polling data from political elites or party debates without covering the overall perceptions of parties or classifying their political positioning. For example, studies by Ann-Kathrin Reinl and Heiko Giebler (2021) and Linda Basile et al (2021) examine individual politicians' stances on EU solidarity through elite surveys while others focus on parliamentary and public debates (Closa and Maatsch 2014; Hobbach 2021; Wallaschek 2020a). Based on these previous studies, we aim to substantiate the previous claims and formulate more specific expectations about overall party trends.…”

Who holds the union together? Citizens’ preferences for European Union cohesion in challenging times

“…In addition to economic and cultural explanations of EU support and the literature on EU identity, the empirical research suggests a number of other potentially influential factors. These are in particular linked to more general political orientations, such as internal efficacy, political interest, and information (Hooghe and Marks, 2004; McLaren, 2006; Ray, 2006), as well as to satisfaction with national politics as a cue for EU support (Anderson, 1998; Armingeon and Ceka, 2013). EU support – and we assume that this is even more true for the broader concept of preferences for EU cohesion – is positively linked to satisfaction with politics in general, since individuals do not always make clear distinctions between different strata of the multi-level system, simply transferring their satisfaction with national politics to the European level of politics.…”

“…In academic research and everyday politics, solidarity became a popular term during the EU's 'polycrisis' (Zeitlin et al, 2019). Until today, backing for EU solidarity policies has been investigated in the context of various socio-political levels and for a broad range of crises (Gerhards et al, 2019;Katsanidou et al, 2022;Reinl and Giebler, 2021;Wallaschek, 2020).…”