Most people in the European Union support the EU and the Euro and believe there should be more political and economic integration within Europe. At the same time, they have a critical view of EU policymaking and fear it is not developing in the right direction. Those are some of the findings from our representative EU-wide survey carried.
Overall, 71 percent of the survey's respondents say that if a referendum were held today they would vote in favor of a continuing EU membership for their country and 63 percent say they would vote in favor of staying in the Euro zone. In addition, 59 percent of the EU's citizens feel that the Union's political and economic integration should be increased, a figure that rises to 64 percent when the same question is posed to people living in the euro zone.
This general support does not, however, mean that people in the EU have a favorable view of recent policymaking decisions or are confident about the future. In fact, 72 percent of the respondents say that European politics is moving "in the wrong direction." People living in the Euro zone see the situation even more critically (77 percent). These attitudes are accompanied by dissatisfaction over national politics, with 68 percent of respondents throughout the EU saying that policymaking in their own country is on the wrong path.
The survey was carried out in July, a time when the discussion of Greece's future in the Euro zone and measures to save the Euro was at a high point and when news reports were dominated by critical and even pessimistic views of unfolding events.
General knowledge about the EU has increased
The increased media interest in European politics means that EU citizens today know more about the EU and its actors than ever before. Overall, 68 percent of the survey’s respondents are well informed about the basics of EU policymaking, a figure that rises to 74 percent in the Euro zone. Key EU politicians are also better known than previously, with Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz, presidents of the European Commission and the European Parliament, known to 40 percent of Europeans. Even 34 percent of respondents know who Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, and Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, are. While those figures are not as high as the percentage of people who are familiar with Angela Merkel (83 percent), David Cameron (75 percent) or François Hollande (63 percent), they are higher than the figures for the prime ministers of Italy and Spain, Matteo Renzi (32 percent) and Mariano Rajoy (22 percent).
Ensuring peace and security is a key task for EU citizens
According to the survey's respondents, the key tasks facing the EU are ensuring peace and security (61 percent), ensuring economic growth (53 percent), reducing social inequality (47 percent) and addressing the issue of immigration (42 percent). The achievements the respondents appreciate most about the European Union are its open borders, free trade and its having maintained peace (46, 45 and 40 percent).
When asked about their preferences in terms of possible reforms to the Union, a large majority of the EU citizens say they are in favor of referenda being held in the EU. At the same time, a large majority of respondents say they do not support joint election of a president.
Moreover, EU citizens are divided about Germany's role in European policymaking, with 55 percent saying it is "good" or "very good" that the country takes on a leadership role and 45 percent, who feel it is inappropriate to take on such a role. Of the six largest EU member states, the highest approval levels can be found in two countries bordering Germany: Poland (67 percent) and France (65 percent). The lowest approval levels are found in Italy (29 percent) and Spain (39 percent). In comparison, 48 percent of the British say they are in favor of Germany playing a leading role within the EU.
Please find the complete survey on the right side.
