The euro, economic interests and multi-level governance: Examining support for the common currency

Support for a common currency and the European Monetary Union signifies that European citizens are willing to transfer power from the nation-state to the European Union (EU). Given the symbolic importance of national currencies, this willingness to give up sovereignty over currency has important implications for the further integration and development of the European Union. Drawing on a multi-level governance perspective and past research into public support for European integration, we examine how economic factors such as the value of the national currency and individual factors such as diffuse support for the EU and education condition support for the euro. We hypothesize that citizens will be less likely to support a common currency when they lack diffuse support for the EU, when their own national currency is strong or when their country's domestic agenda is squeezed by austerity measures. Using pooled Euro Barometer data from 1992 to 2000, we find support for these hypotheses indicating that citizens take into account domestic economic performance when evaluating EU institutions, but we also find that individual attitudes toward the EU play a role in support for the euro.