Bases of Support for the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy: Gender, Attitudes toward Economic Integration, and Attachment to Europe

In: International political science review: the journal of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) = Revue internationale de science politique, Band 31, Heft 3, S. 285-299

Abstract

The present study examines the determinants of individual support for the European Union's (EU) Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Using data from the 2005 Eurobarometer survey, I specified models that test whether gender, subjective economic evaluations of the European integration, and attachment to Europe affect how EU citizens view the CFSP and a possible rapid European military force. My findings show that there is no gender gap in EU foreign policy attitudes: women are not less pacific than men. Individuals base their evaluations of the EU on their experience of the economic integration and their feelings for Europe.