Depth and Breadth? Eurozone and Schengen Expansion and EU Legitimacy

• In Event: International Cooperation, Domestic Politics, and Public Opinion

Abstract

How does deeper integration into international organizations (IOs) by new member states affect attitudes toward the IO in question? Traditionally, breadth versus depth in IOs has been framed as a trade-off in International Relations literature. However, in the case of the European Union (EU), we have seen enlargements (breadth) followed by the new member states becoming more closely integrated into the European project (depth) via memberships in the eurozone and the Schengen zone. Enlargement may reduce an IO’s legitimacy by making decision-making more difficult or by weakening the sense of in-group feeling among member states. However, when new member states subsequently become more deeply integrated into the IO, does this deepening enhance IO legitimacy by demonstrating an effective integration process? Or does deeper integration by new member states into the IO’s more exclusive “clubs” instead undermine legitimacy by reducing the perceived cohesion and effectiveness of these clubs? We test these competing expectations by looking at the effect of Croatia’s recent accession to the eurozone and Schengen zone on Italians’ attitudes toward the EU, using a survey experiment. Our research holds important implications for both East-West relations in the EU and our understanding of the trade-off between depth and breadth when it comes to IOs more broadly.

Authors

• Lauren Elizabeth Ferry, University of Mississippi

• Junghyun Lim, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Anna M. Meyerrose, Arizona State University

• Nina Obermeier, King's College London