Strong in the centre, weak on the fringes: political attitudes in Germany
Compared to the other major EU states, it is noticeable that political attitudes in Germany are very moderate and predominantly centrist. 80 percent of Germans consider themselves to be centrist, which is a greater share than any of the other five major EU countries. The majority of those Germans (44 percent) place themselves on the centre-left. France has the strongest political fringes compared to the other EU states. Around one half of French people revealed that their views are either left (24 percent) or right (25 percent) of centre.
Whether in Germany, France or the EU as a whole, one rule seems to apply: those who are dissatisfied lean more towards the right. Of those who consider themselves to be right-wing in Germany (7 percent), 63 percent are dissatisfied with the state of democracy in Germany and 65 percent are dissatisfied with the state of democracy in the EU. 77 percent of them believe that the EU is moving in the wrong direction, and only half of those in Germany who consider themselves to be right-wing would vote in favour of their country remaining in the EU.
There are therefore significant differences in all of these categories between those who consider themselves to be right-wing, and those who hold centre-right, centre-left or left-wing views. This means the same trend that exists in other European nations can be observed in Germany too. However, the proportion of Germans who consider themselves to be right-wing (7 percent) is still very low – compared to a 25-percent share in France, for example.