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EUROPEAN UNION

Better since Brexit? How Europeans feel about the EU

Europeans are less positive towards the European Union than they were a year ago, but on the whole views of the EU are mainly far more positive than a decade ago and more optimistic than before Brexit, a new survey has revealed.

EU flags in Brussels
How do Europeans feel about the EU? (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)

Some 45 percent of respondents to the EU-wide Eurobarometer survey said they have a positive image of the EU, which reflected a 7 percent drop compared to a year ago, but higher than in 2013, when only 31 per cent had a positive image of the bloc.

Some 17 percent of people in the EU had a negative image of the EU, a rise of 5 percent compared to a year ago, but again the proportion of people with negative views was lower than a decade ago when it stood at 28 percent.

Countries where people had the most positive views towards the EU were Ireland (72 percent) and Portugal (70 percent), followed by Luxembourg and Sweden (both 64 percent). At the other end of the scale were Slovakia and Greece (31 percent), and France, Austria and Czechia (35 percent).

Views of EU membership changed after Brexit

The survey revealed a general positive perception of EU membership, with 61 percent of respondents viewing their country being part of the bloc as a ‘good thing’. Although that figure reflects a drop from the 65 percent who viewed EU membership as a good thing one year ago.

The figure has increased however since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, when it stood at 53 per cent.

Ireland again, together with Luxembourg and Lithuania (all at 84 per cent), top the list of countries where people view EU membership positively. Slovakia, Greece and Romania are at the bottom of the list.

The positive trends are seen, at least partly, as a result of Brexit.

“We saw this in 2016, we saw it in 2019 again, in the individual data throughout the countries, that yes, Brexit had this impact on how citizens see the European Union. You might even go a step further and say that certain political narratives that might have been present in a number of countries until the exit of the United Kingdom very quickly disappeared afterwards,” said Philipp Schulmeister, the European Parliament’s Director for Campaigns, at the press conference to present the survey.

The parliament’s spokesperson Jaume Duch Guillot said that Brexit had a smaller impact in countries like Spain and Portugal and “in countries that historically have always been in favour of being members”.

But the impact of Brexit was seen more in those states where there was already a public debate about being in or out of the EU.

The survey was published to mark one year until the next European Parliament elections, which is planned between the 6th and 9th of June 2024 depending on the country.

When it comes to the future of the EU, more than half of citizens in all EU countries are optimistic, except in France and Greece, where the share is 45 percent.

Overall, 54 per cent of respondents said they are satisfied with the way democracy works in the EU and 71 percent said the EU had an impact on their daily lives.

However, 50 per cent saw a decline in the living standards and 65 per cent were not happy with the measures taken by their own country to tackle the cost of living crisis.

In terms of priorities for the future, respondents want the European Parliament to focus primarily on poverty and social exclusion (38 percent), public health (33 percent) and climate change (31 percent).

This article was published in collaboration with Europe Street news.

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EUROPEAN UNION

EXPLAINED: What’s at stake in Germany’s European election vote

Any EU citizen living in Germany can vote in European elections, taking place around Europe from June 6th to June 9th, when Germany goes to the polls in those elections. So why should EU citizens living here take notice, register, and cast a ballot?

EXPLAINED: What's at stake in Germany's European election vote

Why does the European Parliament matter? What powers does it have?

Plenty of hot button issues – like national defence and healthcare – are still largely decided by national parliaments. That’s likely to remain so, but the European Parliament has power to act in a few key areas.  

It scrutinises all laws the EU’s executive – or the European Commission – proposes and it can also request legislation. Plenty of recent high-profile EU laws have come at its insistence. These include the end of roaming charges in the EU and GDPR, which now sets data privacy standards around the globe.

Besides regulations on tech and artificial intelligence, expect MEPs to be debating a lot of legislation around consumer protection, food safety, certain action on climate change and transition like the European Green Deal, trade deals, as well as Europe’s support for Ukraine and whether it will eventually be a member of the EU.

European election results will also have some influence over whether Ursula von der Leyen – the first German to be European Commission President since the 1960s – gets another term.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The 2024 European elections will influence whether she gets another term in the EU’s top job. Photo: AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias

READ ALSO: Who is Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen, the surprise candidate to take the EU’s top job?

How are the elections expected to go?

Polls show the centre-right Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union have a sizeable lead for the European elections in Germany. Also, although the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has climbed to over 20 percent at points in national polls, it’s numbers for European elections are trending somewhat lower.

The same cannot be said for the populist right elsewhere in Europe, where polls everywhere from Austria to Sweden to France and the Netherlands show right-wing parties having the potential to make some big gains over their 2019 results.

At the same time, more centrist European political parties on the centre-left and centre-right are still likely to be able to keep a majority in the European Parliament according to the latest polls.

‘Wake-up call’: Far-right parties set to make huge gains in 2024 EU elections

So do MEPs represent their country in the European Parliament?

Technically, they’re not supposed to. MEPs are mandated to act in what they see as the interest of wider Europe – even if that conflicts with the interests of their own country. MEPs are still chosen in election contests that are run nationally though.

Every five years since 1979, voters around the European Union vote for 705 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Brussels and Strasbourg. Each country gets a number of MEPs roughly proportional to its population. With Germany being the EU’s most populous country, it gets the most, with 96 seats.  

However, MEPs don’t sit in the European Parliament based on country as they aren’t supposed to act in purely national interests – but looking at what they see as the interest of all of Europe. They sit in the European Parliament based on party group. So a Green from Germany and a Green from France will sit together. That German Green also won’t be sitting with the German Christian Democrats – who themselves will sit on the other side of the chamber with parties like Ireland’s Fine Gael – a fellow centre-right party.

European parliamentarians say they do that to encourage you to vote in a European way – considering the issues you think will impact all of Europe – rather than treat the European elections as a referendum on your own national government – which studies show often happens.

Elections to borders: 7 big changes in the EU that will impact you this year

Who gets to vote in Germany?

If you are a citizen of the European Union – so German, but also Irish, French, Italian, etc. – you can vote in the European elections. It’s important to note here that you don’t necessarily vote where you are from but instead vote from wherever you live in the EU. So if you’re an EU citizen living in Germany, you don’t need to be German to vote in the European elections in Germany. A German living in Spain would vote there, just as a Spaniard living here would vote here.

Voting in Germany in European elections is open to EU citizens 16 and older.

Germany is one national constituency and the vote is proportional. There also isn’t the same five percent threshold to get seats for European elections as there is for national elections, so smaller parties can sometimes get a seat.

Ballot papers are placed on desks at a polling station in Nuremberg, southern Germany, during regional elections in Bavaria

Ballot papers are placed on desks at a polling station in Nuremberg, southern Germany. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

EU citizens who live and are registered in Germany should have gotten a letter explaining that they have the right to vote. They may, however, have to register – particularly if they haven’t voted in Germany before. EU citizens who voted in the last European elections in 2019 in Germany shouldn’t have to register.

You’ll need to send a letter or bring a signed form in person to your local election office – and you can get that form online from the Bundeswahlleiterin.

That form also needs to be in by Sunday, May 19th – in time for you to be on the list for the elections in Germany on Sunday June 9th. Once you’re registered, you should be able to vote either in person or via postal ballot. You should also then get an information sheet detailing where you can vote or how to do it via postal ballot if you wish.

If you vote in person, make sure to bring you voter information and some identification showing your nationality. Your EU passport may be your safest bet.

READ ALSO: How to register to vote in Germany in the 2024 European elections

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