To trust or not to trust? ‘Exit’ approaches in EU citizens’ attitudes after Brexit

Abstract The European Union (EU) is a unique international alliance project, successful in maintaining political stability through its institutional model and decision-making procedures. However, recent economic and border crises, and COVID-19, have shown the institution’s fragility and undermined citizens’ trust. The UK’s 2016 vote to exit the EU demonstrated this. Indeed, Brexit was the first real example of the consequences of intensifying Eurosceptic sentiments. Since then, the fear of a likely ‘contagion’ in other countries has persistently spread. This paper investigates whether and how the Brexit issue impacts on EU citizens. In particular, it aims to understand how European citizens would react to a hypothetical referendum, along UK lines, on exiting the EU. Analysing the European Election Studies (EES) Voter Study 2019, this article tries to identify clusters of European citizens according to their attitudes to European policies, their trust in the EU, and their thoughts on an exit referendum.