DescriptionPopular opinion holds that the European Union has reached the limits of its integration capacity. Despite major advances made in integration, little progress seems to have been made in creating a common European community. Many feel this spells the end of the European Union. In this project, I argue that in fact, the situation is not as dire as it appears. The European Union has significant political legitimacy, and its population in fact tolerates its governance well. This legitimacy says more about the future of the European Union than affective identification. I show the importance of political legitimacy as opposed to affective identity in three empirical chapters. The first examines the determinants of support for European control of specific policy areas, and shows that different factors determine support for European control of different policies. The second presents the results of a survey experiment showing that framing certain issues in terms of costs and benefits can shift opinions on policy control. Finally, I present a case study of the Eurozone financial crisis, showing that despite precipitous drops in indicators of affective identity, the EU is still the most desired actor when discussing solving the crisis, and most Europeans support continued integration as a result of the crisis. The future of the European Union is more positive than both popular opinion and most scholarship would believe.