A new survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) has found that 66% of EU citizens across 15 countries support Britain rejoining the bloc. Support ranged from 56% in Bulgaria and France to 75% in the Netherlands and Denmark. Even voters for far-right and EU-critical parties, such as Poland’s Confederation (71%), Germany’s AfD (58%) and France’s National Rally (58%), favoured closer relations.
In the UK, 75% of respondents want closer ties with the EU, and 66% believe trade and economic links should be strengthened. A majority (63%) said they would accept freedom of movement in exchange for closer trading ties, including 57% of Leave voters. Only 18% rejected this trade-off.
The survey also revealed that British voters across party lines think Brexit has had a negative impact on key issues: the cost of living (66%), the economy (65%), youth opportunity (57%), illegal immigration (56%) and trade (56%). Most Leave voters (58%) said Brexit made illegal immigration worse. When asked about the main benefit of Brexit, the most common answer was “don’t know” or “none of the above”.
Mark Leonard, director of the ECFR, said the polling showed the EU was open to the UK’s return and that the British public had moved on from 2016. He noted a “very broad permissive consensus for going far beyond the government’s current reset”. The report identified three voter camps: “optimists” (28%), “realists” (35%) and “loners” (27%).
On security, British voters favoured Europe over the US as a preferred partner. Only 18% view the US as an ally, while 58% favour closer defensive relations with Europe. A majority do not want to buy more US weapons, and 63% support participating in an alternative European nuclear deterrent.
