The strength of exclusive national identity is the most important indicator of Euroscepticism

Who is most likely to have scepticism toward European integration? Marijn van Klingeren and Hajo Boomgaarden write that in the early years of studies on public Euroscepticism explanations tended to focus on ‘hard’ factors such as citizens’ economic status. Taking issue with this approach, they argue that an individual’s strength of national identity is more important than economic status for determining their tendency to hold Eurosceptic views. Based on a survey of Eurobarometer data, they suggest that national identity is not only the most important indicator of Euroscepticism today, but that this was also the case in previous decades.