New Poll Shows Declining Support for EU

A new poll published Tuesday has shown that EU citizens are increasingly skeptical about whether EU membership is a good thing. The survey of over 16,000 EU citizens, conducted by Eurobarometer, showed that the number of people who think the EU is "a good thing" has declined by 6 percent from March and that the number of citizens who think the EU is "a bad thing" has increased by 4 percent. Despite this decline in support, over three times more people are still in favor of the EU than against it (48 percent vs. 15 percent). Amongst the existing member states, the only country where a greater percentage of the population is against the EU than for it is the United Kingdom (where 29 percent think the EU is a bad thing, compared to 28 percent who are in favor). The most enthusiastic country is Luxembourg, where 77 percent of the population are EU supporters and only 6 percent are against it. Meanwhile, 62 percent of current EU citizens support a constitution, 64 percent favor a common foreign policy and 70 percent favor a common defense policy. (EUobserver.com)