Senior Citizens and the European Union: A Romanian Perspective

Abstract

The general goal of this paper is to study senior Romanian citizens’ EU attitudes after ten years of European membership, with a special focus on the unsolved tension between the instrumental and symbolic perspectives. By looking at the present context, the purpose of this research is to assess the challenges and transformations of the EU-related opinions and support of traditional euro-enthusiastic citizens in times of vulnerability and struggling economies. Equally, the paper favours a future-oriented view, and puts under scrutiny people’s expectations and evaluations of the future developments of the EU and their consequences at personal, national and supra-national level.