The Euro and European identity: The Spanish and Portuguese case

The European Union proposes a potential social identity that Spain and Port ugal wish to have as part and parcel of their process of modernisation and economic growth. The Euro, is the symbol of this desire. As this study show s, in the process of changing to the new currency the pro-European attitude s are far more advanced than any real information citizens may have. As a r esult of this, the desire to be a European citizen is expressed in the new currency or any other symbol of identity that may strengthen this particula r image. The support that citizens give to the Single European Currency com es more from the European identity than from the economic expectations or k nowledge of the immediate consequences. Indeed, regression analysis was use d to predict attitudes toward the Euro and the main predictors were Europea n identity and microeconomic expectations. Moreover, this article suggests the use of market segmentation as a means of obtaining a more accurate acco unt of citizen's opinions of European Monetary Union (EMU). Cluster analysi s revealed four clusters: "Indifferent", "Pro-Euro Informed", "Pro-Euro Uni nformed" and "Against the Euro". (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.