How do the positions of voters on European integration and EU policy alienation relate to
electoral participation? We build on the recent literature on participation in elections in general
and in the European level in particular and argue that positive positions on further steps in
European integration boost the chances that a citizen participates in the European parliamentary
elections. In addition, by building on a simple spatial model we argue that the European policy
offers parties make before the election have an impact on participation in the election to the
European Parliament: the more alienated a citizen is from the European policy positions parties
offer, the more likely she abstains from going to the polls. Our analysis, which is based on the
2014 European Election Studies dataset, provides evidence for our argument, even after
controlling for a battery of ‘standard’ factors that explain political participation.
