Von der Leyen’s Commission not winning most European hearts and minds, polling suggests

euronews (in English)

The European Commission’s approval rating is deeply split in the EU and alarmingly low in a handful of member states, new polling shows, raising questions over Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second term at the executive’s helm.

Transcript

00:00 A new Euronews/Ipsos exclusive poll reveals while most European citizens consider EU membership

00:09 of their country a good thing, just one third of them approve of the European Commission's

00:14 work.

00:17 Portugal and Spain are the most Euro-enthusiast countries, while Czech Republic is the only

00:22 member state where less than half the people appreciate being part of the EU. Slovakia,

00:26 France and Italy also have low rates. For expert Francesco Nicoli from Brugel, the results

00:32 are not surprising.

00:35 I think it is perfectly fine to have, you know, at the stage of European integration

00:39 as we are now, to have 60%, a bit more than 60% expressing a positive view and only about

00:46 15% expressing a negative view. Since it's about the performance, it's not really about

00:52 the polity itself. This is not a judgement about the European Union, it's a judgement

00:56 about the current outcomes of the European integration process.

01:01 37% of the respondents consider positively the work of the current European Commission,

01:07 led by Ursula von der Leyen, which has faced multiple crises, from the Covid-19 outbreak

01:12 to the war in Ukraine. 32% do not have an opinion, where 31% have a negative opinion.

01:18 In France, approval rates are particularly low.

01:22 I'm not surprised that if French people are turning against Macron, which is quite typical

01:26 at this stage of a French presidential, you know, parabola. I'm not surprised that voters

01:34 associate von der Leyen very closely to Macron and therefore they dislike Macron and therefore

01:39 they dislike von der Leyen.

01:41 Von der Leyen is mostly criticised by the left, ECR and ID voters, but also one fifth

01:47 of the electors of the European People's Party, her own political family, disapprove of her

01:52 legacy.

01:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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