Poll shows key hotbeds of EU discontent

The strongest public support for quitting the bloc is in France and Poland, a survey shows

France and Poland have become major centers of skepticism about the EU and show growing public support for leaving the bloc, according to a new survey conducted across nine member states.

In France, 27% of respondents said they want the country to exit the bloc, while another 12% were undecided, according to the Eurobazooka survey commissioned by the French magazine Le Grand Continent and published on Thursday. Last year, the figures were 26% and 9%, respectively. Despite being a founding member, France could become the bloc’s “weak link” in terms of public backing, the report warns.

In Poland, 25% voiced support for an exit and 6% were unsure. The result is “shocking,” Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza noted, given that in 2022 around 92% of Poles favored remaining in the Union.

Germany, another pillar of the EU project, also showed a decline in support, a trend described as “particularly worrying.” Backing for exiting the EU remains lower than in France or Poland but still rose from 13% to 16% in the latest survey.

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While the poll’s authors did not explain the rising sentiment for leaving the bloc, the political climate in both countries points to mounting frustration with Brussels. In France, concerns over immigration, expanding EU rules, technocratic decision-making and dissatisfaction with the euro have fueled discontent. Veteran right-wing politician Marine Le Pen has repeatedly condemned EU migration policies and what she calls Brussels’ “distant technocratic structures.”

In Poland, the anti-EU sentiment is reportedly driven by cultural, moral and economic grievances. Many conservative voters accuse the bloc of imposing liberal social norms on issues such as LGBT rights, gender policy and judicial reforms, while disputes over climate regulations and rising financial obligations to Brussels have deepened tensions.

Euroskeptic forces have also made steady gains in Hungary, Slovakia, and Italy.

Conducted online at the end of November, the poll surveyed just over a thousand respondents in each of nine countries: Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Croatia.