New Direction Poll on EU

A new landmark ComRes / New Direction Poll across nine EU countries reveals that only one in five (19%) UK adults are satisfied with the EU in its current form, and 90% want to keep the pound.

As the Greek election this week throws the future of the EU under the spotlight, the ComRes / New Direction poll covers attitudes towards the EU across the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark and Sweden.

Geoffrey Van Orden MEP, President of New Direction, Europe’s leading reformist think-tank, commented;

“The poll bears out the urgent need for robust reform of the EU. Only 19% of voters across are satisfied with the EU in its current form and the majority want to see a cut in the EU budget.

“This poll shows there is strong support across the EU, for the approach being taken by Prime Minister David Cameron on EU reform and on changing the ‘free movement’ rules. What stands out is the need for the British people to have say on their EU membership and only a Conservative government will give them that”.

Andrew Hawkins, Executive Chairman of leading international research consultancy ComRes, added:

“This poll shows that those calling for EU reform now represent the mainstream view – contrary to what many believe. The challenge for the EU is how, given the reluctance of many European leaders, it can meet the demands for change – including in areas such as freedom of movement where resistance to reform is traditionally strong. It is also surprising to find how much David Cameron’s call for reform resonates in Member States such as France, Netherlands and even Germany.”

KEY FINDINGS

Currency

90% of Britons back Britain keeping the pound rather than switching to the euro. A third of Germans (33%) and French (31%) favour changing back to the Deutschmark and Frank.

Size of the EU

A majority of people in France (58%) believe the EU should be reformed, as do around half in the UK (49%), Netherland (49%) and Germany (46%).

Free movement

At least around half of people in UK (56%), France (52%), Denmark (51%), Sweden (49%) Netherlands (49%) back greater controls on the free movement of people, something that David Cameron has been campaigning for.

Britain and the EU

Only 16% of UK residents believe they personally benefit from Britain’s membership of the European Union.
Just one in five (19%) Britons are satisfied with the EU in its current form.
A majority (60%) want the UK to reduce its contribution to the EU budget, higher than any other country apart from Italy (60%) and the Netherlands (70%).
Two thirds of Britons (64%) want the EU to have less involvement in British affairs. This is higher than in any of the nine countries included in the research.

Date Published: 07/02/2015

Categories: Economy | Economy | Europe | Public and communities

Client: New Direction

Methodology

ComRes interviewed online representative samples of adults aged 18+ in the UK (514 adults), France (504), Germany (501), Italy (500), Spain (509), Poland (519), the Netherlands (502), Sweden (505), and Denmark (510) between 12th and 19th December 2015. Data were weighted to be representative by age, gender, and region. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.