EU Cohesion Policy can't buy me love? Exploring the regional determinants of EU image
Marcin Dabrowski (TU Delft - Spatial Planning and Strategy)
D. Stead (TU Delft - Spatial Planning and Strategy)
B Mashhoodi (TU Delft - Environmental Technology and Design)
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Abstract
By investing in the development of European territories, EU Cohesion Policy can be expected to have a positive impact on the citizens' views on the European Union. Whether and how the policy actually affects what people think about the EU remains unclear. This paper explores a range of regional determinants of EU image, from socio-economic to territorial factors and the intensity of EU Cohesion Policy funding, based on the data available for 2008–2015 period. It finds a positive relation between the size of the regional European Structural and Investment Funds' allocation and less negative EU image, while highlighting how a declining regional economic situation fuels more negative views on the EU. It also reveals that lower level of education and higher migration have a strong influence on negative EU image, albeit only in some European regions.
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