Leaving the treaties, but not Europe, behind? Investigating the impact of opt-outs from EU law on self-identification within Europe

Abstract

Speaker: Martin Moland, ARENA, Centre for European Studies Chair: Filippa Chatzistavrou, University of Athens The ability to opt out of EU policy is likely to be an important tool for overcoming political gridlock as European integration in for instance defence policy deepens in the years to come. However, we still know little about how opt-outs impact people's self-identification with a European citizenship. Using generalized synthetic controls I find that people in countries with opt-outs tend to see their European identities strengthened in the years after it was first implemented, but that the effect varies with its politicization. This shows that providing individual countries with greater autonomy may strengthen their citizens' attachment to Europe, but that this is likely to depend on whether or not the opt-outs come about as a result of a heavily politicized debate.