Pew poll shows most Europeans want to take back control from Brussels

[Blackleaf]

Many in Brussels are anxiously looking out for any sign of what has been termed ‘Brexit contagion’ – the idea that the Brits might encourage others towards leaving the EU. The findings of a major Pew survey of European opinion does not point to a rush towards the exit, but it certainly does flag up dissatisfaction with the EU and its handling of many of the most pressing issues facing the continent...

Coffee House

Pew poll shows most Europeans want to take back control from Brussels

Philip Sime

(image: istock)

Philip Sime
17 June 2017
The Spectator

Many in Brussels are anxiously looking out for any sign of what has been termed ‘Brexit contagion’ – the idea that the Brits might encourage others towards leaving the EU. The findings of a major Pew survey of European opinion does not point to a rush towards the exit, but it certainly does flag up dissatisfaction with the EU and its handling of many of the most pressing issues facing the continent.

Take, for example, trade policy: should a country set its own alliances or leave it to the EU? This is, in effect, a question about the Customs Union – staying in this union is often taken to define ‘soft Brexit’. But the Pew study shows that most people in almost all of the European countries surveyed wish that their own government, rather than the EU, could set trade policy.

So, a majority of people in Greece, France, Sweden, Hungary and Poland would now like to see their governments decide their own trade agreements.

While the Brexit vote preceded what has undoubtedly led to an increase in popular support for the EU, it has also engendered a desire to follow Britain’s lead in holding a referendum on membership. Indeed, a majority of people in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Sweden and Poland now support holding a referendum on membership of the EU. Even 50% of Germans would like to have their say on the issue.

Senior figures in Brussels might breathe a sigh of relief that Brexit has thus far failed to set off a domino effect which leads to the implosion of the EU. But let’s not pretend there isn’t a strong and growing desire among Europeans to disempower Brussels.

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/...leave-eu-doesnt-mean-theyre-happy-status-quo/

 

[Bar Sinister]

Hmm, they don't seem to be voting that way in France or Germany given the fact that pro-Eu parties are likely to win the next elections. Sometimes I wonder how these polls are conducted.

 

[Danbones]

You believed them when they said hitlary would win by a mudslide.

Funny, you quote the papers that printed them too, all the time.

BTW:
The charts show the percentages of support in France and capitalist Germany pretty much support the OP's opinion. Looks like the capitalist Germans just don't trust Merkle's abilities to make deals.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Funny how polls are liberal/conservative socialist/Nazi propaganda until they say what the poster agrees with, at which point they're the Wurd o' Gawd.

 

[Bar Sinister]

You believed them when they said hitlary would win by a mudslide.

Funny, you quote the papers that printed them too, all the time.

BTW:
The charts show the percentages of support in France and capitalist Germany pretty much support the OP's opinion. Looks like the capitalist Germans just don't trust Merkle's abilities to make deals.

France polls: Macron's party wins clear parliamentary majority

France polls: Macron's party wins clear parliamentary majority - BBC News

 

[Blackleaf]

US AND THEM A ‘visible divide’ has opened up in the EU between the ‘elite’ and the general population which could affect the bloc’s future, according to major new survey

The continent is divided about their thoughts on the bloc and where it should go next

By Natasha Clark
20th June 2017
The Sun

A HUGE GAP has opened up between the “elite” and the rest of the public in the EU – who hold drastically different views on how the bloc should tackle key issues.

A survey showed that an elite group were far more likely to think immigration had been good for them, that they had benefited from being a member of the EU, and that they were proud of both their national and European identity.


A divide can clearly be seen between what the elites think and the general population think

Research for Chatham House by Kantar studied a group of 10,000 members of the public and 1,800 of Europe’s political, business and media elite.

It showed stark divides on traditional values, immigration and the welfare state.

The results showed a “simmering discontent within the public”, the report said, “large sections of whom view the EU in negative terms”.

• More than 70 per cent of the elite felt they had benefited from being a member of the EU, compared to around 35 per cent of the public
• Just under 60 per cent of elites said immigration was good for the country compared to around 26 per cent of the public
• 30 per cent of elites thought immigration from Muslim states should be halted, compared to 55 per cent of the public
• Almost 80 per cent of elites said they were proud of their national identity and European identity, compared to around 55 per cent of the public.
• Around the same level of Brits say immigration is good for the country as who think immigration is bad for it.

The research also showed that two thirds of Europeans believed that the EU should take a hardline approach to the UK when it came to Brexit, 65 per cent of those who were quizzed in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Austria and a handful of other countries said that the EU should not compromise its core principles for the UK in ongoing talks about out exit.

That compared to 49 per cent of Brits who said the EU should compromise to keep us close.


As Britain starts talks on leaving the EU, more than half of those surveyed think another member will also quit

The large scale poll also showed that 57 of those in the nine countries thought the EU had been weakened by Brexit, and 46 per cent thought it would be bad for the bloc.

Brits were more upbeat, and 70 per cent thought the EU would suffer from our exit.


Almost one in five on the continent wanted their country to quit the bloc

More than half of people in the ten countries thought another EU member might leave the bloc in the next ten years.

Countries most likely to back this view were Greece, Hungary and Poland.

"The findings have important implications for the debate on Europe’s future," the reports authors said.

"Debates over the future direction of the EU need to be reframed so that they address concerns about a perceived threat to national traditions and cultures as much as they respond to anxieties over economic performance.."

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38397...e-blocs-future-according-to-major-new-survey/