HEUREC

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is supporting a new research project at the Institute of Political Science with approx. 876,000 Euros. The project, titled HEUREC – How Europeans understand fairness, reciprocity and cohesion, will investigate which expectations of reciprocity citizens in nine Eurozone countries have toward other European countries and the institutions of the European Union. The difficult question of ‘who owes whom what’ – e.g. which member states or which levels are responsible for providing support in the EU – has only become more controversial, especially in the wake of the Euro-area sovereign debt crisis and, most recently, the stimulus packages passed in response to the COVID-19-pandemic. Perceptions of transnational justice and reciprocity are embedded in narratives; their patterns can be asessed best in focus groups. Accordingly, the project sets out to conduct focus groups in cooperation with local partners in the selected Eurozone countries: Finland, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain. The focus groups will include individuals from various socio-demographic groups who discuss problems of reciprocity and distributive justice in the EU context. The goal of the project is to determine narrative patterns and thus to gain better understanding of the societal requisites for realizing solidarity at European level. Additionally, the research findings and insights will inform a dialog with political practitioners. Heading the project at the Institute are Prof. Dr. Jens Steffek and Adjunct Prof. Dr. Björn Egner, in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Hubert Heinelt (professor emeritus). The project has commenced as of 1 April 2021 and has a duration of three years.