Analysis of the Perception of the Eu and Eu‘S Policies Abroad
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ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEPTION OF THE EU AND EU‘S POLICIES ABROAD FINAL REPORT December 7, 2015 0 The study was requested by the European Commission's Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) and was implemented in January – November 2015 by the following three partner organisations: the Public Policy and Management Institute (PPMI) (the lead partner) based in Vilnius, Lithuania; the National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE), located at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand; and the NFG Research Group, based at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. The study also drew on the expertise of expert teams based in 10 Strategic Partner countries: Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the US. The public opinion poll in the 10 countries was carried out by TNS Global. The social media analysis was carried out by the NCRE with substantive support of the Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group at the University of Wolverhampton, the UK. The main contributors to this study are, in alphabetic order: Egidijus Barcevičius (Public Policy and Management Institute, Vilnius) Haroldas Brožaitis (Public Policy and Management Institute, Vilnius) Elma Caicedo (Public Policy and Management Institute, Vilnius) Natalia Chaban (NCRE, University of Canterbury) Johanna C. Günther (NFG, Freie Universität Berlin) Martin Holland (NCRE, University of Canterbury) Anja Lutz (NFG, Freie Universität Berlin) May-Britt U. Stumbaum (NFG, Freie Universität Berlin) The country expert teams are presented in Annex I. The study was presented to the Steering Committee on November 12, 2015. It has been revised to reflect ideas discussed during the meeting as well as follow-up suggestions received via e- mail. The study does not represent the official views of the European Commission. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................................... 2 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................................................. 5 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................................................ 6 LIST OF ACCRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................... 10 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................ 12 1.1 UNDERSTANDING PERCEPTION .......................................................................................................................................................... 13 1.2 EU PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ...................................................................................................................................................................... 14 1.3 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................................................................. 15 1.3.1 Key research criteria ........................................................................................................................................................... 15 1.3.2 Explanatory variables ......................................................................................................................................................... 16 1.3.3 Main themes and sub-themes ........................................................................................................................................... 17 1.3.4 Target groups ......................................................................................................................................................................... 18 1.4 THE METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................................................ 19 1.4.1 Literature review .................................................................................................................................................................. 19 1.4.2 Public opinion survey .......................................................................................................................................................... 20 1.4.3 Media analysis ........................................................................................................................................................................ 22 1.4.4 Social media analysis........................................................................................................................................................... 24 1.4.5 Interviews................................................................................................................................................................................. 26 1.5 STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................................................................................. 28 2 GENERAL FINDINGS AND TRENDS (AGGREGATED ANALYSIS) ....................................................................... 29 2.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 29 2.2 THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF PERCEPTIONS OF THE EU AND EUROPE ................................................................................................ 30 2.2.1 Comprehensive overview of research criteria across countries ......................................................................... 30 2.2.2 Thematic overview ............................................................................................................................................................... 34 2.3 EXPLAINING THE FINDINGS: LOCAL CONDITIONS AND THE GEOPOLITICAL CONTEXT (EXPLANATORY VARIABLES) ............ 51 2.3.1 Geopolitical context ............................................................................................................................................................. 52 2.3.2 Economic (inter)dependence ........................................................................................................................................... 53 2.3.3 Political system ...................................................................................................................................................................... 53 2.3.4 History ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 54 2.3.5 Culture ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 55 2.3.6 Translation .............................................................................................................................................................................. 55 2.3.7 Age .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 55 2.3.8 Education/ sufficiency of information on the EU ..................................................................................................... 56 2.3.9 Contact with Europe ............................................................................................................................................................ 56 2.4 REGIONAL AND GLOBAL TRENDS ....................................................................................................................................................... 57 2.5 MAIN FINDINGS ON EU VS. EUROPE .................................................................................................................................................. 58 2.6 AGGREGATE ANALYSIS: CORE FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................... 60 3 COUNTRY CHAPTERS ..................................................................................................................................................... 61 3.1 BRAZIL ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 61 3.1.1 Sample ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 61 3.1.2 Visibility .................................................................................................................................................................................... 62 3.1.3 Actorness and local resonance ......................................................................................................................................... 64 3.1.4 Local conditions: explaining the perception