Euroscepticism beyond #Brexit

Euroscepticism is on the rise across Europe, according to a new Pew Research Centre survey. About two-thirds of both British and Greeks, along with significant minorities in other nations, want some powers returned from the European Union to national governments.

Still, most Europeans agree that a British exit would harm the 28-member EU.  A median of just 51% across 10 EU countries surveyed have a favorable view of the European Union. EU favorability is down in five of the six nations surveyed in both 2015 and 2016, including a double-digit drop in France (down 17 percentage points from last year) and Spain (16 points). A median of 42% in these 10 nations want more power returned to their national capitals, while only 19% favour giving Brussels more power and 27% favor the status quo.

Majorities or pluralities in six of the 10 countries want some power back. Nevertheless, in the nine EU nations surveyed that won’t vote in the UK’s June 23 referendum, a median of 70% believe it would be bad for the EU if the UK decided to depart.

Only 16% say it would be a good thing. Young people – those ages 18 to 34 – are more favorable toward the European Union than people 50 and older in six of the 10 nations surveyed. The generation gap is most pronounced in France – 25 percentage points – with 56% of young people but only 31% of older people having a positive opinion of the EU.

There are similar generation gaps of 19 points in the UK, 16 points in the Netherlands, 14 points in Poland and Germany and 13 points in Greece. Supporters of Eurosceptic parties – especially in France, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK – are much less likely than adherents to other major parties to have a favorable view of the European Union. In the UK, people who place themselves on the left of the ideological spectrum (69%) are 31 percentage points more likely than those on the right of the spectrum (38%) to have a favorable opinion of the EU. There is a similar 23-point ideological gap in Italy, a 16-point divide in the Netherlands and a 12-point difference in Germany.

These are among the key findings from a new survey by Pew Research Centre, conducted in 10 EU nations among 10,491 respondents from 4 April to 12 May 12, 2016. The survey includes countries that account for 80% of the EU-28 population and 82% of the EU’s gross domestic product. The findings are available here. 

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