Spanish and Portuguese Citizens’ Attitude towards European Integration: The Role of “History” on the Perception Formation

Abstract

Spain and Portugal are often seen as the “pro-European” countries in the EU. However, when we observe statistical data relating to the citizens’ attitudes toward the EU, some significant differences can be found between these two countries. According to Eurobarometer, Spanish citizens did not feel that gaining membership in the EC was benefitting as Portuguese citizens did, immediately after the accession to the EC. On the other hand, Portuguese people do not regard European integration as benefitting as Spanish people do. Previous studies suggest that Portuguese attitudes are more prone to changes in economic climate.
Why are there such differences? My theory is that people in Spain see European integration as more “political” and “international” issue, while people in Portugal regard it as more “economic” and “national” issue from their historical backgrounds. In order to examine this, I researched articles in Spanish and Portuguese leading newspapers, as national newspapers are said to represent their citizens’ views on social phenomena. Through the research, I revealed that the differing ways in which Spanish and Portuguese newspapers depict European integration reflect these countries’ national views on it. Portuguese people are more likely to see European integration from the utilitarian point of view, while Spanish people look at it comparatively from the affective point of view.
Furthermore, I found that national histories of these countries shape different ways in which people see European integration in later days. The accession to the EC gave great impacts on Spanish and Portuguese citizens’ everyday life. Therefore, this event is remembered by both peoples, but from different perspectives. Spanish citizens idertify the participation in the EU as democratization and the end of international isolation. So to them, European integration is a matter of political norms such as democracy, and they are sympathetic with European identity. Portuguese citizens consider the “Europe” as an alternative to their colonies, which had been principal source of wealth in the Portuguese empire for a long time. As a result, their views towards European integration have been more exclusively national and utilitarian. For this reason, Spanish and Portuguese attitudes toward European integration have developed quite distinctly from one another.