THE PANDEMIC’S EFFECT ON TRUST IN THE EU

Abstract: There are some democratic deficiencies with the European union such as low voter turnout and lack of control from directly elected institutions. Political trust is an important aspect of democracy as it creates democratic legitimacy for political institutions. Previous research has shown that during the financial crisis trust in the EU decreased, yet there are little research on how trust in the EU has changed during the pandemic which is also a crisis that effected the whole union. A strong predictor of trust in the EU is corruption perception, which previous research has shown to be associated with an increase in trust in the EU. However, during the financial crisis there was a moderating effect on corruptions effect on trust in the EU by the crisis. This study uses the Harmonized Eurobarometer 2004-2021 with the Standard Eurobarometer 96 and 97 to test if there has been a decrease in trust in the EU within the EU countries during the pandemic. The study will also test if a decreased corruption perception overtime is associated with decreased trust in the EU and if the pandemic has a moderating effect on corruptions effect on trust in the EU. The results from the OLS regression shows a negative correlation between less corruption perception over time and trust in the EU and a moderating effect of the pandemic, such that corruption is a weaker predictor of trust in the EU after the pandemic. The results also indicates that trust in the EU decreased in more corrupt countries after the pandemic while trust increased in less corrupt countries.