The geography of EU discontent

a column by Lewis Dijkstra, Hugo Poelman and Andrés Rodríguez-Pose for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal



Support for Eurosceptic parties and the rise of populism threaten not only European integration, but peace and prosperity on the continent more broadly.

Rather than attributing their rise to the individual characteristics of voters – such as age or income – this column takes a different approach. Using results from recent legislative elections to map the geography of EU discontent, it finds that purely geographical factors – chiefly, long-term economic and industrial decline – are the fundamental drivers of anti-European voting.

Continue reading Please do, There are a couple of maps which will be of interest to most people whatever their personal view of the EU actually is.

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The revenge of the places that don't matter

a column by Andrés Rodríguez-Pose for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

Persistent poverty, economic decay and lack of opportunities cause discontent in declining regions, while policymakers reason that successful agglomeration economies drive economic dynamism, and that regeneration has failed. This column argues that this disconnect has led many of these ‘places that don’t matter’ to revolt in a wave of political populism with strong territorial, rather than social, foundations. Better territorial development policies are needed that tap potential and provide opportunities to those people living in the places that ‘don’t matter’.

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