According to a Eurobarometer survey conducted in February and published by the European Parliament on Thursday 25 April, a clear majority of European citizens, 61%, consider that their country's accession to the EU was a “good thing”.
The Parliament notes that this approval rate is at a record level, a level that was only reached after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. A year ago, 60% of them expressed such an opinion (see EUROPE 12025/14).
In addition, 68% of Europeans believe that EU countries overall have benefited from being part of the EU.
However, these figures do not remove some of the doubts felt by European citizens. For example, 27% of them now believe that the EU is “neither a good thing nor a bad thing”, with this rate increasing in 19 countries. And 50% of respondents think that “things are not going in the right direction”, in the EU or in their country.
As for the European elections, three months before taking place, only one third of the respondents were aware that they would be held in May, and only five percent of them were able to give the exact dates. In addition, 35% of Europeans said they would definitely vote, while 32% were still undecided.
Finally, it should be noted that 54% of respondents expressed the wish that the role of the European Parliament is strengthened in the future. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)