The FINANCIAL — Support for the European Union may be rebounding just in time for the European Parliament elections, according to a new survey of seven EU nations by the Pew Research Center.
The FINANCIAL — Support for the European Union may be rebounding just in time for the European Parliament elections, according to a new survey of seven EU nations by the Pew Research Center. After a dramatic decline in the wake of the euro crisis, EU favorability is now on the rise in France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. And faith in one of the EU’s founding principles – that European economic integration is good for their own country – is up in the UK, Poland and Germany.
But, as the electorate heads to the polls beginning May 22, publics across Europe overwhelmingly think that their voice is not heard in Brussels, home to the EU. Majorities in most countries complain that the EU does not understand their needs and is intrusive and inefficient. And they express little enthusiasm for giving the EU greater power on economic issues.
Moreover, in most of the countries surveyed, ratings for the EU have yet to return to pre-crisis levels. Italians are increasingly critical of the institution and are divided over whether to keep using the euro as their currency. And Greeks, who have suffered most from the economic downturn, remain deeply skeptical of many aspects of the European project, according to Pew Research Center.
Meanwhile, conflicting politics complicate the upcoming European Parliament elections. In the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Germany, people on the right of the political spectrum are generally more judgmental of the EU. In Greece and Spain, the institution’s strongest critics are on the left. And concern about immigration adds to the public’s disgruntlement. Majorities in Italy, Greece, France and the UK, express a desire to curb immigration, in part because many believe that immigrants fail to assimilate, and that they take citizens’ jobs and government social benefits.
Turnaround in the UK
There has been a dramatic turnaround in the British mood in just the past year. Thanks in part to a rebounding economy, 43% of the public say the nation’s economy is now doing well, up 28 points since 2013. And 45% expect continued improvement, up 23 points from the optimism expressed last year. Just 17% expect the economy to worsen and an improved economic outlook may have bolstered support for the European project: 52% of the British public now has a positive view of the European Union. And belief that European economic integration has been good for the UK is up by 15 points.
And with this turnaround, British support for remaining in the European Union has picked up. By 50% to 41%, the British now want to remain in the EU. In 2013 the public was divided, with 46% wanting to stay and an equal share wanting to leave, according to according to Pew Research Center.
Poland’s Love Affair with the EU
Poles: Strongest Supporters of EUAmong all the European publics surveyed, Poles are on balance the most committed to all aspects of the European Union. Roughly seven-in-ten Poles (72%) have a favorable view of the Brussels-based institution, compared with a median of 51% in the other six member states surveyed. Roughly half of Poles (52%) hold the view that European economic integration strengthened their economy, compared with a median of only 32% elsewhere. Half or more of Poles give a thumbs up to the European Parliament (57%), the European Commission (56%) and the European Central Bank (52%). In each case, such backing is more than 20 points stronger than median favorability across other EU societies.
Italians’ Sour Mood
Italy’s continuing economic woes and political dysfunction have contributed to growing public disgruntlement across the board, according to Pew Research Center.
Almost all Italians (96%) say their economy is performing poorly, and about three-quarters (74%) say economic integration has weakened Italy’s economy. Half of the Italian public has a negative view of the EU, second only to Greece in disfavor toward the Brussels-based institution, and only 46% of Italians have a favorable opinion of the EU, the first time that measure has dipped below the break-even point since the euro crisis began.
And 56% voice disapproval of the European Commission. Moreover, 44% want to abandon the euro and return to using the lira; that’s a 19-point drop in support of the common European currency in just one year.
Germany: A Nation Apart
Stark attitudinal differences continue to differentiate Germans from other Europeans. Germans are 75 percentage points more likely than the median of the other six European nations to say their economy is doing well and 31 points more likely to think their country has been strengthened by economic integration with the rest of Europe.
Roughly two-thirds of Germans (66%) have a favorable impression of the EU, compared with just half the publics in the six other EU nations surveyed. They are more inclined to complain that Brussels has already provided other EU countries with too much financial assistance. And Germans share with other Europeans the view that their voice is not heard in the EU. This may be one reason that opposition to giving more decision-making power to the EU has grown in Germany from 44% in 2013 to 50% in 2014, according to Pew Research Center.
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