The role of public opinion in European Union policy making: The case of European Union enlargement

The present paper addresses the role of public opinion in shaping EU foreign policies through a case study of EU enlargement. Analysing the theoretical reasons that may explain public attitudes towards EU expansion: Economic (cost – benefit analysis) and post-materialist (identity-based) motives, on the basis of Eurobarometer surveys 2000 – 2005, the work highlights several factors that explain the existing discordance between EU public and elite opinion on enlargement policy. It suggests that a consensus between EU public and elite attitudes towards the future of enlargement policy can be achieved if a broad informational campaign is started in every member state on the implications of EU enlargement. The political elites should ‘re-sell’ the benefits of the process of European integration within the last 30 years. Concomitantly, the recent enlargement crisis should not lead the EU to close its institutions to those countries willing to join it and the EU should fulfil its promises towards the applicant states from Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.