Has the financial crisis shattered citizens’ trust in national and European government institutions?

The financial crisis has differently affected trust in national and European governmental institutions. Our paper analyses the determinants of trust in national and European institutions over the last decade – with particular focus on the 2007-09 period – and comes to the conclusion that citizens’ declining trust in national governments is related to an increase in unemployment in the EU-15 and EU-25. In the EU-25, falling trust levels in national parliaments are also associated with an increase in government debts. Trust in the European Commission and European Parliament seems strongly associated with the situation in the real economy (growth of GDP per capita). Furthermore, our analysis confirms that trust in national institutions has actually increased in the direct aftermath of the financial crisis.