On Monday 5 February, the Commission for Natural Resources (NAT) of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) discussed a study on rural/urban dynamics and the 'geography of discontent', which shows the extent of the Eurosceptic vote in the countryside.
The results show that the Eurosceptic vote is high in many rural areas of the EU, as demonstrated by recent demonstrations in several EU countries. In Italy, for example, most support for anti-EU parties comes from rural areas, according to the study. Likewise, in Poland and Hungary, Eurosceptic support comes mainly from rural areas. Similarly, in countries such as Portugal, Croatia and Estonia, the few Eurosceptic regions are all predominantly rural.
The authors of the study point out that Eurosceptic parties with anti-EU programmes can be found across the political spectrum, from right to left, from conservatives to social democrats.
“Euroscepticism appears to be a reaction to dissatisfaction with policies or practices associated with the EU, rather than to a particular political ideology,” according to the authors. The data analysed shows that electoral support for Eurosceptic parties is more likely to come from rural areas than from urban or intermediate areas. However, very different patterns emerge from one Member State to another.
Link to the study: https://aeur.eu/f/apk (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)