Understanding ‘Utilitarian’ Support for European Integration in Scotland and Wales: the Role of Economic Interests, National Identity and Party Support

Abstract

While the changing positions of ethnic and regionalist parties towards European integration have been studied in detail recently, there has been comparatively little attention given to the attitudes of sub-state electorates. This paper assesses the impact of socio-economic status, partisanship, national identity and other explanatory factors on attitudes towards European Union membership in two distinct regions of the UK. It uses binary logistic regression estimation to assess which factors influence ‘utilitarian’ support for the European Union in Scotland and Wales with data from the British Household Panel Survey which allows for robust subgroup analysis. Socio-economic status, in particular educational attainment, gender, age grouping, religious commitment, partisanship and political interest, have an impact, while national identity—contrary to expectation—has surprisingly little effect. This paper makes a contribution to the study of public opinion towards the EU at the sub-state level and the attitudes of the Scottish and Welsh electorates since devolution.

Keywords:

• Public attitudes
• European integration
• utilitarian support
• Scotland
• Wales

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Kyriaki Nanou and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this paper.

Notes

Recently the EU granted permission for the Welsh language to be used in certain institutions, such as the Council of Minister and the Committee of the Regions. Needless to say, this move was warmly welcomed by ministers in the devolved administration (Williamson, 2008).

The full question wording and response options are: “Scotland/Wales now has an elected parliament/assembly—a special parliament/assembly for Scotland/Wales dealing with Scottish/Welsh affairs. Which of the statements on the card comes closest to your view? Scotland/Wales should become independent, separate from the UK and the European Union; Scotland/Wales should become independent, separate from the UK but part of the European Union”.

Underlining these patterns of support and opposition, one contemporary article noted: “In the public mind the conduct of the Government and entry into Europe are inseparable. Opposition to the market and to the Government tends to be most intense in Scotland and the North of England where some of the highest unemployment is to be found; working-class people think they will be hit hardest by entry; women and older people are strongest in their antagonism” (Economist, 1971: 26).

Data taken from the British Election Studies Information System, at http://www.besis.org/Body.aspx.

Ibid.

Figures taken from Nesstar, at http://nesstar.esds.ac.uk/webview/index.jsp.

For more information on the questions asked about EU membership in the Eurobarometer surveys, see the Eurobarometer Interactive Search System, at http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/cf/index_en.cfm. Equivalent information relating to the British Social Attitudes survey series can be found at http://www.britsocat.com/Body.aspx?control=HomePage.