Majority want closer EU-UK ties – survey
A major new poll of public attitudes towards UK-EU relations since 2016 has just been published.
It was compiled by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
The study surveyed over 9,000 respondents and was commissioned through pollsters YouGov and Datapraxis after November’s US election.
People in six European countries, (France, Germany, UK, Italy, Poland, and Spain), were questioned.
It found that around half of Brits believe greater engagement with the EU is the best way to boost the UK economy (50%), strengthen its security (53%), effectively manage migration (58%), tackle climate change (48%), allow Ukraine to stand up to Russia (48%), and stand up to US (46%) and China (49%).
Both sides want closer ties, says the survey.
In Britain, a majority of 55% think the UK should get closer to the EU compared to only 10% who prefer a more distant relationship.
And across the EU, pluralities in every country polled concur. 45% of Germans want the relationship to get closer (compared to 9% who want it more distant), and similar patterns can be found in Poland (44% to 5%), Spain (41% to 11%) and Italy (40% to 11%).
European support is weakest in France, but even there, 34% would prefer a closer relationship compared to just 11% who prefer more distance.
Europeans see multi-area benefits from closer ties, it says.
Pluralities in all five EU countries think greater EU-UK cooperation is the best way to boost the European economy (with 38% of respondents expressing this view in Spain, 33% in Italy, 32% in Germany and Poland, and 26% in France), strengthen European security (42% in Germany, 41% in Spain, 39% in Italy and Poland, and 32% in France), and manage migration efficiently (36% in France, 33% in Italy, 31% in Spain and Poland, and 29% in Germany).
Besides, many across the bloc, including 50% of those polled in Poland and 45% of respondents in Germany and Spain believe Brexit has been bad for the European Union.
When asked who the UK government should prioritise relations with, 50% choose Europe and only 17% the US.
When asked which relationship is most important for ensuring jobs for British people, a plurality of former leave voters (32%) look to Europe compared to only 13% to the US.
Commenting on the findings, ECFR’s co-founder and director, Mark Leonard, said, “Donald Trump’s election and Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine have hit British and European politics like a double hammer blow.”
He added,” The Brexit era divisions have faded and both European and British citizens realise that they need each other to get safer. Governments now need to catch up with public opinion and offer an ambitious reset.”
