A trade-off between enlargement and integration? An analysis of trust between EU nationalities

This paper analyses the impact enlargements have had on the integration of the European Union (EU). For this purpose, integration was conceptualised as the sense of community across national boundaries and measured as interpersonal trust between EU nationalities. Eurobarometer surveys form the database used, with country dyads serving as units of analysis. The key result is that enlargements do not necessarily weaken trust. Enlargement to the North has actually strengthened trust levels within the EU, despite extending the Community from the central city belt to the Nordic periphery. Enlargements to the South and East, however, have weakened trust levels. The integrative effect of enlargement depends on the extent to which acceding nations differ from existing club members in three main dimensions: the level of modernisation (mechanisms: prestige), cultural characteristics (mechanisms: similarity) and their power in the international system (mechanisms: perceived threat). A cautiously optimistic conclusion can be drawn from the observation that in the past, after each wave of territorial extension, trust has subsequently increased.