On the changing public opinion towards the European Union during the euro crisis

With the euro zone in crisis, and the upcoming of various rightwing nationalist parties, is there still a future for the European Union? This thesis focuses on the public opinion of citizens in the EU member states, and how this has changed from 2008 until 2011. Using cross country regressions, individual level regressions with time and country fixed effects and country level regressions, the relations between time, economic factors and general characteristics are examined. The results do not show a more negative attitude towards the EU over time, but do find differences between countries. Especially the non euro countries are less positive, while the southern EU countries do have a more positive attitude.