Religiosity and Swedish Opinion on the European Union

This article examines whether religiosity affects Swedish opinion on the European Union (EU) using survey data from 1998 conducted by the SOM Institute, Göteborg University. The findings support the notion that religiosity affects Swedish EU opinion. Members of the free churches (nonconformist Protestants) tend to oppose Swedish EU membership, whereas no such tendency is visible among active members of the Evangelical‐Lutheran Church of Sweden (the traditional state church). Members of immigrant churches and adherents to non‐Christian religions tend to support Swedish EU membership. The difference between the Church of Sweden and the free churches is explained by the uneven distribution of evangelical values. Support for Swedish EU membership is on the same low level among evangelicals and equally high among mainline Protestants in both religious orientations. Controlling for demographic factors does not change the conclusions.