EU facing wave of discontent as France and Germany lose faith - study
Getty The report found EU citizens were losing faith in the bloc
The shock findings, collated by British think tank Demos in a 485-page study into “fear in the EU”, show a definitive loss of trust in the bloc by five out of six countries surveyed. Britain, France, Sweden, Germany and Poland all believe their countries will be in a worse state over the next 12 months, with Spain being the only anomaly with a slightly more positive view. A high of 82 per cent of the French population do not trust EU institutions while, 33 per cent think the bloc’s powers need to be reduced and 22 per cent want to leave entirely, a survey by the independent think-tank the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris has found.
A general gloom has set over France, the report finds, with 81 per cent of those surveyed believing there will be another major terror attack in the country in the next six months following seven over the past two years. Socialist France, one of the six founding members of the EU along with Germany, has seen a distinct rise in right-wing politics highlighted by more than one in two French people in the survey believing a "fascist or extreme right political party in the next ten years" despite most French believing anti-migrant Marine Le Pen’s Front National party is racist.
Getty Protests have been happening in Sweden against migrants
Ms Le Pen has vowed to pull France out of the EU by calling a referendum if she wins the election as she believes the EU will die unless it changes and abandons its authoritarian character, she has said. And despite Britain leaving the EU, France was the only country to think globalisation has had a negative impact on the country.
In a serious indictment of the situation in the EU, the bloc’s biggest cheerleader Germany is even seeing a reduction in popularity towards the bloc, with 81 per cent of Germans concerned about increasing payments to the EU and 72 per cent thinking the EU will contribute to a loss of jobs in the country. A total of 79 per cent of Germans surveyed are concerned about the loss of social security. Politicians in Germany, however, do not believe their constituents are concerned about the EU showing a disconnect between the elite and the people, highlighted last year when numerous protests took place against the more than 1.1 million migrants let into the country by Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015.
Getty Angela Merkel has been rewarded for her migrant policy, but Germans are not so happy
The survey found Polish people see Islamic terrorism, which has shown a big increase over the past two years, as the biggest problem. In Sweden, where an open-door migrant policy has operated since 2005, the major concern is about immigration, with 45 per cent highlighting it as one of the two most important issues facing Sweden over the past 11 years. The report makes recommendations to tackle a lack of support for the EU which include re-focusing the block on tangible targets, boost its accountability, make it more transparent and address the disparity between its elites and EU citizens.
What countries are in the EU? Wed, September 14, 2016 In the wake of Brexit, we look at the 28 member states that are in the European Union. Play slideshow Getty 1 of 29 Countries that are in the European Union
In conclusion, it says short term policy making will not tackle a growing populism across the bloc. The report concludes: “There is no doubt that we are living through a transition that feels cataclysmic in nature – disruptive, challenging and potentially dangerous. “But the question as to whether this is the beginning or the end of something has not yet been decided. “It is important that European governments, and the EU itself, do not succumb to reactive policy-making and short-term thinking to try to ‘stem the tide’ of populism, nationalism and authoritarianism.