Yahoo News The UK has the lowest opinion of the EU out of all its members
A new report shows the UK has the lowest opinion of the EU out of all the organisation’s 28 member states.
The Eurobarometer survey, titled ‘Closer to the Citizens, Closer To The Ballot’ and published in April, analysed attitude and opinions towards the European Union.
In one section, respondents from all countries were asked if they thought membership of the EU was ‘a good thing’, ‘a bad thing’, ‘neither’, or ‘dont know’
According to the chart the UK has the highest percentage - 22- of people who think the EU is a bad thing, while 43 percent of respondents thought the organisation was a good thing.
The Czech Republic came in at second worst opinion with 15 percent and Italy at 21 percent.
People in the UK were also far more likely than anywhere else to say they don't know whether the EU is good or bad, with a huge 7 percent seemingly uninformed.
In stark contrast, the results show the UK’s collective opinion of the bloc has plummeted in just one year.
In January 2018, the Standard Eurobarometer showed the UK was the sixth from bottom in terms of positive outlook on the EU.
The Czech Republic, Greece, Austria, Latvia and Hungary were all found to have an even dimmer view of the organisation.
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The report goes on to focus on the UK - showing strong numbers who want to stay in the organisation - and strong feelings of uncertainty towards the future.
The majority of British citizens, 54 percent, still believes their country has benefited from being a member of the EU.
Meanwhile 45% of UK respondents would vote to remain in the EU if a referendum new referendum was held.
But the report states how UK citizens ‘believe that their voice does not count enough and they generally have a less positive opinion of the European Parliament than citizens would have in other EU countries.
The report read: ‘In this light, unsurprisingly, the Parliament should play a less important role in the future for a majority of British respondents.’
The report also highlighted how a majority showed ‘strong feelings of uncertainty towards the future’.
Meanwhile a large proportion - 66 percent - of people aged 15-24 thought the UK had benefited from EU membership.
Only 40 percent of those among 55+ age group thought there as significant benefits in being a member of the bloc
The report states: ‘The youngest generations are also more likely to believe that their voice counts in the EU and that the European Parliament should play a more important role.’
The report was released by the European Parliament ahead of the elections in May, while the UK is in the midst of a crisis around the terms of Brexit.
