The world thinks Germany and France are much more important EU countries than the UK, says poll

The world thinks Germany and France are much more important EU nations than the UK, a poll has revealed.

YouGov asked people from 26 countries around the world to rank the most important nations in the European Union.

It found that Germany is the most vital EU country in the eyes of the world, ahead of France, with the UK far back in third position.

The international poll, conducted over the past few months, found that even Britons think Germany is the most important EU nation.

Of the 26 countries polled, including China, New Zealand, South Korea, Australia, USA and India, 19 said Germany was the most important in the EU, compared to just seven who think it is the UK.

Germany was the most likely to be named in the top three in each nation surveyed, with 15 out of 26, compared to nine for France and only two for the UK.

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Only six of the 26 nations rank the UK higher than Germany – and all of them are Asian nations: Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

France was ranked more highly than the UK by 18 of the 26 nations.

And even in the UK we think we are third best.

Six in ten Britons (59%) said Germany is more important than the UK, compared to just 16% who say the reverse.

Almost half of Britons (46%) believe France is more important than the UK, compared to 29% who believe the opposite.

And there isn’t the huge discrepancy between Leave and Remain voters’ opinions that might be expected.

Among Leavers, 18% say the UK is the most important country in the EU, compared to 10% of Remainers.

Conservative Party voters are most likely to say Britain is the most important EU nation (20%), and to include it in the top three (55%).

However, even in that category there was 52% who put Germany first.