Europietiškumo rakursai: Lietuvos elitų bei gyventojų požiūriai ir žvilgsnis į kitas Europos šalis

LTPagrindinis empirinių tyrimų objektas – ES valstybių narių elitų ir visuomenės požiūriai į ES (stiprėjantis atotrūkis tarp elitų ir paprastų piliečių, didėjanti elitų segmentų, socialinių demografinių bruožų ir politinių ideologijų elitų lygmeniu ir Europos regionuose įvairovė). Ši kolektyvinė mokslo monografija – vienas iš svarbiausių atliktų naujų empirinių tyrimų ir susistemintos europinės duomenų bazės analizės rezultatų. [...] Pagrindiniai šioje mokslo monografijoje aptariami EUELMASS tyrimo uždaviniai. 1 Pateikti teorinius pagrindus ir ankstesnių mokslinių tyrimų empirines įžvalgas, apibūdinančias europietiškumą, elitų ir paprastų piliečių skirtumus (ar panašumus), elitų segmentų pozicijų ir dispozicijų skirtumus, taip pat nacionalinius ir regioninius europietiškumo bruožus ir dėsningumus. 2 Apibūdinti Lietuvos visuomenės europietiškumą ir išanalizuoti visuomenės požiūrius į ES formuojančius socialinius demografinius veiksnius. 3 Palyginti Lietuvos politinio elito ir gyventojų požiūrius į ES. 4 Palyginti Lietuvos ir dešimties ES valstybių narių politinio elito europietiškumo rodiklius. 5 Išskirti ir aprašyti Lietuvos žiniasklaidos, valstybės tarnybos, politinio ir ekonominio elito segmentų europietiškumo panašumus ir skirtumus. 6 Pateikti Lietuvos ekonominio elito europietiškumo raidos apžvalgą (2007–2018 m.). 7 Apibendrinti gautus empirinių tyrimų rezultatus ir stebimas pokyčių tendencijas ir pateikti galimus klausimus ir temas tolesniems moksliniams Europos studijų, vykdomų elitų ir visuomenės apklausų metodu, tyrimams [Iš Įvado].

ENThe main objective of the book is to reveal and analyze the evolution of the attitudes of the Lithuanian political, administrative, media and economic elites and general public towards the EU identity and governance in 2004–2018. The book also investigates the transformations of assessments and concepts of the EU. Chaper 1. Our main analytical concept is Europeanness which refers to emotive, cognitive-evaluative and projective dimensions of feelings, perceptions and assessment relative to the EU as a political, economic and social entity in the project. The book focuses on the changing attitudes within the member states’ elites and society towards the European Union. We are interested in the Europeanness of the Lithuanian general public; in the gaps of the Europeanness observed between the political elites and the general public in Lithuania; in the variations of Europeanness among the elite segments in Lithuania as well as in the trends and specifics of Europeanness in different European regions. The main distinctiveness of the project is rooted in the novelty of the empirical data (4th wave of the Lithuanian parliamentary elite survey conducted in 2017 (N=56), the surveys of the Lithuanian administrative (2016, N=70), media (2015, N= 35, and economic elites (2017-2018, N=34) and in the comparative approach including the Lithuanian and European databases (the political elites from Lithuania and 10 other EU member-states, 2014, N= 717, plus N=56 from Lithuania in 2017). The main empirical research findings are presented and discussed in the separate chapters of the book.Chapter 2. On Europeaness of the Lithuanian population. The national survey has disclosed that the absolute majority of respondents (74%) support EU membership (18% of population disapprove EU membership), 37% of respondents identify themselves with Europe and 8% of respondents reject the European identity (they have expressed strong Lithuanian and regional identity). The deeper analysis of the perception of Europeanness has revealed that the set of “achieved” values (respect for EU institutions, feeling European, respect for European values, duty to vote in EP elections) are prevailing in the concept of the European identity. The “ascribed” values such as being born in Europe, having European parents have been emphasized less frequently. The Lithuanian population supports the extension of the central EU authorities such as the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Central bank. The majority of respondents want that the EU member-state remain the central actor within the EU. Especially strong trends of the Euro-enthusiasm are found among the youth, the educated, the high-income earners as well as those living in Vilnius. Mostly mentioned advantages of the membership in the EU are the ease of travelling across the member states, an opportunity to work abroad, an economic support to Lithuania as well as a possibility to study abroad. The main drawback of the EU membership is named to be the immigration of people from the non-EU countries and refugees.According to the social survey, the most important attributes of the Lithuanian identity are the knowledge of the Lithuanian language, the feeling of being a Lithuanian and respecting the law and institutions of Lithuania. Similarly, the European identity revolves around the respect for the EU law, the self-identification as a European as well as the knowledge of at least one other EU language besides one’s mother tongue. Most inhabitants of Lithuania are in favor of further EU integration with the most evident support coming from the youth, the educated, the high-earning and those living in Vilnius. In 10 years’ time, the majority of respondents would like to see the EU having a unified system in terms of social security, foreign policy and taxation. In addition, they express support for more help for the EU regions suffering from economic and social difficulties. At the national level, the Lithuanian population would enjoy seeing an initiative being taken on the issues of unemployment, health care and agriculture. While, at the EU level, immigration, environmental, anti-crime policies as well as the financial sector regulation and the energy policy should be tackled. The public trust in the main EU institutions (the European Parliament, the European Commission) is higher than the trust in the Lithuanian institutions (the President, the Government, and the Parliament). The lower levels of satisfaction in how democracy functions in Lithuania are observed as well (when compared with the EU). Considering various aspects of the EU future existence (the economy, social differences among member states, geopolitical significance, political unity), the careful optimism among the Lithuanian respondents prevails. For the Lithuanian population, the guarantee of social security provision to all citizens is much more important than the increasing EU free-market competitiveness in the world. [...].