FT/Harris poll (March 2007)

FT/Harris poll on people's views on the EU

The FT published its poll on attitudes to the EU, in the 5 major EU member states, in March 2007.¹ It was published just ahead of the Berlin Summit of 25 March 2007.

Quoting the FT article:

"The malaise gripping the European Union...is highlighted in a new poll which shows that 44% of citizens think life has got worse since their country joined the club."

As can be seen from the following table, this pessimism was prevalent in all the 5 major EU countries, except Spain. Great Britain showed the most pessimism with 52% saying life was worse compared with only 13% who said life was better. Net negative scores were also recorded for France, Germany and Italy.

Since your country became part of the EU, has life there become better or worse (% of respondents)?

	GB	France	Italy	Spain	Germany	Average
Better	13	19	24	53	22	25
Worse	52	50	47	24	44	44
Stayed the same	21	25	25	18	24	Na
Not sure	14	7	4	5	9	Na
Balance (better minus worse)	-39	-31	-23	-29	+22	-19

Source: HarrisInteractive, "Except in Spain, majorities or pluralities in five European countries believe life has become worse since joining the EU", 19 March 2007, www.harrisinteractive.com/news.

Great Britain's exceptional position was more marked by the question asking respondents' views if the country left the EU. 41% thought it would be better off compared with 25% who thought it would be worse off.

If your country were to leave the EU, do you think life there would become better or worse (% of respondents)?

	GB	France	Italy	Spain	Germany	Average
Better	41	19	16	7	23	22
Worse	25	37	46	54	39	40
Stayed the same	18	35	27	28	23	Na
Not sure	16	8	11	12	14	Na
Balance (better minus worse)	+16	-18	-30	-47	-26	-18

The FT/Harris poll asked about what people most associated with the EU. For the British (and indeed the French and the Germans) the top answers were bureaucracy and the Single Market.

In addition, the British identified the EU with corruption, the French and the Germans with peace, the Italians and the Spanish with democracy, the French and the Spanish with inequality and the Spanish with prosperity.

What do you most associate with the EU (% of respondents)? Top answers

Country	Association	%
GB	Bureaucracy	38
	Single Market	21
	Corruption	10
	Other	20
	Not sure	11

France	Single Market	32
	Bureaucracy	18
	Inequality	15
	Peace	15
	Other	15
	Not sure	5

Italy	Single Market	54
	Democracy	12
	Bureaucracy	10
	Other	19
	Not sure	5

Spain	Single Market	37
	Democracy	19
	Prosperity	11
	Inequality	10
	Bureaucracy	10
	Other	7
	Not sure	6

Germany	Bureaucracy	33
	Single Market	26
	Peace	9
	Other	28
	Not sure	4

Concerning the impact of the EU's regulations on business Germany, GB, Spain and Italy all showed negative scores whilst France was the odd one out with a positive score.

What has been the impact of the EU regulations on business (% of respondents)?

	GB	France	Italy	Spain	Germany
Positive impact	16	21	31	10	22
Negative impact	48	19	37	51	50
Neutral impact	14	48	19	23	9
Not sure	21	13	14	16	20
Balance (positive minus negative)	-32	+2	-6	-41	-30

But Britain was the most negative about the impact of the EU's Constitution - by a considerable margin - though French and German enthusiasm, on balance, is moderate.

What would the impact of the EU Constitution be on life (% of respondents)?

	GB	France	Italy	Spain	Germany
Positive impact	13	33	56	41	34
Negative impact	48	29	12	16	26
Neutral impact	13	26	16	27	17
Not sure	27	12	16	16	23
Balance (positive minus negative)	-35	+4	+44	+25	+8

Technical note

The FT/Harris poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive among a total of 6,772 adults aged 16 or over within France (1,088), Germany (1,109), the UK (1,128), Spain (1,000), [and the US on certain questions (1,394)] and adults aged 18 or over in Italy (1,053). The poll was conducted between 28 February and 12 March 2007.

Reference

1. George Parker, "Poll finds 44% think life worse in EU", Financial Times, 19 March 2007.

RL, April 2007.