Europeans express limited trust in EU

Published on 30 May 2012 at 14:49

"The crisis has undermined the trust of Europeans in the EU," headlines Spanish daily El País, following publication of a report by the Pew Research Centre of an opinion poll conducted in eight European countries (United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Greece, Poland and the Czech Republic). The conclusions of the report show that only one European out of three believes that economic integration was positive for his/her country while 37% say that the euro has no positive influence. The opinion poll also shows that —

Germany and Greece are the two current pillars of the EU. Germany and Germans – including the Chancellor [Angela Merkel] benefit from a large favourable opinion – such as the most admired, the most respected leaders, the most hardworking, the greatest supporters of economic integration and of the EU and the least corrupt. On the other side there is Greece – of which no one has a favourable opinion, other than the Greeks.

The newspaper also notes that —

Spain, historically bound to the pro-European ideal, is, along with the eurosceptic Czech Republic, the country the most disappointed by the European Union. Today; a little more than half of Spaniards believe that the EU was positive for their country. At the European level, the euro continues to be appreciated by Europeans who see it as a lesser evil. They prefer to keep it than to lose it.

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