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Half of Europeans still positive about EU
18th of July 2012
Despite the euro crisis, half of Europeans view membership of the EU positively and believe it brings benefits - according to a new study by the pro-European think tank Notre Europe.
Despite a decline since the 2008 global financial crisis, the level of public support for the EU today is not at its lowest when examined over a longer time period, according to the study, which analyses successive Eurobarometer opinion polls.The study shows that among the 'old members', the Benelux countries, Ireland and Denmark are the most euro-enthusiastic while the least pro-Europeans are in Greece, Portugal, Italy and France.
While Belgium is singled out as pro-European without ambiguity, the analysis sounds more nuanced on the Netherlands, a country which has recently been putting tough conditions on the EU's enlargement and extension of the Schengen passport-free area to Romania and Bulgaria.
The authors speak of a "new Calvinist Puritanism" in the Netherlands, which appears as "a central question mark for the years to come".
Germany appears as a special case where shifts in public opinion are only recent. Historically Germans have been very keen to 'substitute' their national identity with their European identity, according to the authors of the study.
More recently they have tended to leverage their weight to impose their values on other European nations which they see as profligate.
Amongst the countries that joined the EU in 1995 the mood has evolved positively in Sweden and rather negatively in Austria, the study notes.
For the countries that joined in 2004, optimism has been on the decline in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia and Cyprus. In contrast, public opinion has become even more optimistic in Poland, Slovakia and Estonia. In Lithuania and Malta, the mood has remained unchanged.
In Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, pro-European sentiment remains strong, although they no longer reach the record peaks recorded a few years ago.
"The Europe to which its citizens aspire remains a Europe inspired by the value of solidarity. But it has lost some of its visibility; it must reaffirm itself as such, without which the present 'Eurogloom' could transform into strong and long-lasting disillusionment," the report concludes.
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