Is this crisis different? Attitudes towards EU fiscal transfers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

Markus Haverland; Reinout van der Veer; Michal Onderco

doi:10.1177/14651165221112988

Is this crisis different? Attitudes towards EU fiscal transfers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

Eur Union Polit. 2022 Dec;23(4):680-699. doi: 10.1177/14651165221112988.

Authors

Markus Haverland¹, Reinout van der Veer², Michal Onderco³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
² Department of Political Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Peace Research Center Prague, Charles University, Czech Republic.

Abstract

To mitigate the enormous and asymmetric economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU has adopted an unprecedented €750 billion fiscal transfer programme, financed by joint member state liabilities. The highly contested decision pitted 'frugal' northern member states against 'profligate' southern member states. However, do citizens from northern countries view EU transfers as unfavourably as their governmental positions suggest? This article focuses on the crucial case of the Netherlands, whose government has become the assertive leader of the 'frugal' coalition. We test COVID-19 specific explanations based on a large-scale survey conducted at the height of the pandemic. Our analysis suggests that citizens who experience the non-material health and social effects of the pandemic more directly are more supportive of fiscal transfers than those to whom the pandemic is more abstract, whereas those who experience negative financial effects and those who believe that COVID-19 is a conspiracy are less supportive.

Keywords: COVID-19; European Union; deservingness; public opinion; redistribution.