Close to two out of three Europeans aren’t convinced life would be any worse without the European Union, according to a new survey. Europeans want more transparency in EU processes and ask Brussels to focus on real issues such as jobs, security, and climate change.
The survey, commissioned by Friends of Europe, a Brussels-based think tank, found that 64 percent of the nearly 11,000 respondents weren’t sure their lives would be worse without the EU. Almost half (49 percent) reckon the bloc is “irrelevant.”
Younger respondents, however, have a more positive view of the EU, with 41 percent of under 35-year-olds thinking life would be worse if there were no Union.
“Without change and reform, the EU will remain irrelevant to a majority of its citizens,” Pascal Lamy, trustee of Friends of Europe and a former European trade commissioner, said about the findings of the study — which was conducted in September across the bloc as part of the think tank’s “Europe Matters” campaign.
However, Europeans don’t want “less Europe,” the study found, with 90 percent of respondents saying the EU should be more than just a single market. Eighty-one percent of those surveyed said they do not think the EU should prioritize leaving more decision-making to national governments, which the think tank said “suggests that national sovereignty isn’t an issue for the majority.” [...]
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