Public opinion and the EU in the age of Trump’s decrees

The year 2025 provided an opportunity to look back at the evolution of public opinion in the EU Member States over the forty years that have passed since Jacques Delors became President of the European Commission.

These four decades have been marked by significant fluctuations: an initial surge in pro-EU attitudes linked to the interest generated by Jacques Delors’s proposed plan to revitalise European integration, followed by a pattern of setbacks and recoveries over a period of some twenty years and then, since the end of the 2007–2008 financial and economic crisis, a new, very marked rise between 2011 and 2018, which has been consolidated in the years since.

Changes in public opinion can be assessed primarily through the responses to two questions asked in the Eurobarometer surveys twice a year: is their country’s membership of the EU a good thing, a bad thing, or neither good nor bad? And has the country benefited from it or not? In spring 2024 (a question that was not asked again in the following two six-month periods), 60 per cent of citizens surveyed regarded their country’s membership of the European Union as a good thing, compared with 12 per cent who held an unfavourable view (and 27 per cent who described themselves as neutral).

This figure was up by 13 points from 47 per cent in spring 2011. The perception of the benefits of EU membership appeared even more positive. Favourable views exceeded 70% in both spring (71%) and early 2025 (74%, compared with 22% who held the opposite view).

This represented a dramatic increase compared with 2011, when only 52% of respondents believed that their country benefited from its EU membership. Other questions, which had already been asked in 2011, led to similar findings. The European Union’s image, optimism about its future, the feeling that it is moving in the right direction, and declared support for it all showed a moderate increase, ranging from 3 to 7 points.

The trust it inspires rose by 11 points, the sense of being a citizen of the Union by 13 points, and the belief that one’s country’s interests are properly taken into account within the EU even rose by 23 points. These results may come as a surprise, given the scale of the challenges facing the EU and the difficulties it has at times shown in tackling them effectively. Nevertheless, they point to a strengthening of European sentiment in a context marked by threats and uncertainties.