53% of EU citizens approve of their countries' accession

The latest poll among EU citizens reveals that 53 per cent of the people approve of their own country's EU accession.

Extracts of the Eurobarometer report were released yesterday by the European Commission on the eve of the Seville summit.

The poll shows that only 11 per cent see membership as a bad thing and 28 per cent see it as neither good nor bad.

The survey shows that public support for membership of the EU remained steady or decreased slightly. The report says that when studying these results, it is worth remembering that the circumstances in which the previous wave of the Eurobarometer was conducted were unusual in many respects: because of the trauma suffered by the public as a result of September 11, most indicators of support for the EU had registered large increases.

The survey shows that the lowest level of support for EU membership are seen in the UK and in the last three countries to join the EU: Austria, Finland and Sweden. It can also be seen that German support for EU membership is slightly lower than the EU15 average. In France, support for EU membership is also lower than the average and has fallen to its lowest level since the beginning of the Eurobarometer surveys in 1973.

Overall, 51 per cent of EU citizens believe that their country has benefited from its membership of the EU, while 26 per cent believe that it has not.

The survey also reveals that 50 per cent of EU citizens are in favour of enlargement of the EU while 30 per cent are against.

Sixty-three per cent of EU citizens think that the EU should have a constitution. The strongest level of support for this idea exists in Italy with 81 per cent. Opponents of the project represent only a tenth of the population across the EU. They are clearly in the minority in each member state, even though they comprise 28 per cent of respondents in Denmark and in Finland.

The latest standard Eurobarometer is also the first to have been conducted after the launch of the euro. The results confirm that the single currency has been well received in the member states in the Eurozone.

The poll shows 67 per cent of the respondents in the EU declared themselves in favour of the euro. This was an increase of six points relative to the result from the last survey, which was conducted prior to the introduction of the euro notes and coins. The survey also reveals a high level of approval for the principle of a common foreign and security policy.

Standard Eurobarometer surveys are conducted twice a year.