ABSTRACT
With the creation of the European Monetary Union (EMU), the introduction of a single currency, the vast expansion of policy areas to the jurisdiction in Brussels, and the enlargement of the European Union (EU), the speed of the European project has gained full momentum. However, as the EU encroaches more and more on the everyday lives of its citizens, the integration process itself has become highly contested (Steenbergen and Marks 2004). Public support for European integration has been in decline ever since 1992 (cf. Anderson and Kaltenthaler 1996; Eichenberg and Dalton 2007). The recent referenda outcomes, the low turnout in the elections to the European Parliament, as well as mounting levels of support for euroskeptic parties in several national elections show the contemporary shift away from support for European integration.
