More than half of those surveyed in European Union member states are optimistic about the future of the EU, except in France, where pessimism prevails, according to a Eurobarometer poll published on Wednesday (6 December) at six month of the European elections.
The Danes and Irish are the most confident, with 83% “very” or “somewhat” optimistic.
This proportion is 58% for Germans, 55% for Hungarians.
It falls below 50% in only one country, France, where only 46% of respondents say they are optimistic, surpassed by pessimists (49%). This gloom seems to have gained ground in three years, since 52% of French people were, according to a survey at the end of 2020, “very” or “rather” optimistic about the future (compared to 44% pessimists).
Across all 27 EU countries, however, 48% of respondents believe that “things are going in the wrong direction” in the EU (compared to 33% who think “things are going in the right direction”).
But 61% of those surveyed consider their country’s membership of the EU to be a good thing – a proportion roughly stable compared to September 2018. And some 70% of Europeans believe that the EU’s actions have “an impact on their daily lives”.
Just over half (53%) think that the Russian invasion of Ukraine should be an opportunity to accelerate EU enlargement. This proportion, however, decreased compared to April-May 2022, a few months after Moscow launched the war.
Six months before the European elections on June 6-9, during which citizens of the 27 member states will be called upon to elect 720 MEPs, only 28% of Europeans are aware of the date of this election. A majority (57%), however, says they are interested in these elections.
And if 64% of Europeans have “recently read, seen or heard something about the European Parliament”, this is only 41% in France.
The Eurobarometer published on Wednesday is based on 26,523 interviews carried out between September 25 and October 19 with a European population aged 15 and over in the 27 Member States.
This article is originally published on lesfrancais.press
