This article was originally published in English
The European Commission’s approval rating is deeply divided within the EU and alarmingly so in a handful of member states, a poll shows, raising questions about Ursula von der Leyen’s bid for a second term at the head of the institution.
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A majority of voters (63%) view the work of the Commission negatively or have no opinion. This is what emerges from the exclusive survey carried out by Ipsos for Euronews, which suggests that the institution is failing to reach most Europeans.
From a sample of 26,000 European citizens in 18 Member States, 37% believe that they view the work of the Commission, chaired by Ursula von der Leyen, positively, 31% negatively and 32% have no opinion. ‘notice.
This poll comes two months before the European elections where around 370 million voters will nominate their new representatives in the European Parliament. This vote will then trigger the race for the presidency of the Commission.
Ursula von der Leyen, appointed in 2019 when she was not officially a candidate, is currently tipped to obtain a second term of five years. Her political family, the European People’s Party (EPP), nominated her as their main candidate.
To secure this second term, she will need the approval of EU leaders and the support of a majority in the renewed European Parliament, a test she passed by a nine-vote margin in 2019.
Although she has built a strong reputation in political circles, Ursula von der Leyen is criticized for her rare public appearances and her reluctance to go to the streets to meet voters.
The result is a low perception of its institution in the vast majority of Member States. A majority of respondents have a positive opinion of its Commission in only three of the member states: Portugal (61%), Denmark (54%) and Spain (54%).
The approval rate drops to 18% in France, one of the EU’s founding members, where 36% of respondents view the Commission’s work negatively and 46% don’t know what it is.
The perception is also worrying in Central and Eastern European states, such as Austria, where 41% of citizens have a negative opinion of the Commission, as well as in Hungary and the Czech Republic, where 38% of citizens have a negative opinion of the institution.
The results also suggest that around a third of Europeans do not know enough about the Commission to form an opinion on its work.
The Commission unpopular with the political fringes
The rise of marginal parties, particularly the far right, also poses a reputational problem for the Commission. These populist parties often accuse the institution and the EU of being responsible for the economic recession and social difficulties in Europe, which fuels growing skepticism towards the common project.
The survey shows that voters of parties belonging to the far-right group Identity and Democracy (ID) – such as the National Rally in France, the Lega in Italy or Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany – are the most critical of towards the work of the Commission, with 61% of them considering it negative and only 12% positive.
The Commission is also perceived negatively by a majority of conservative and Eurosceptic voters (52%) and by a significant proportion of far-left voters (39%). It is with the Social Democrats and the European People’s Party (EPP), of Ursula von der Leyen, that his approval rate is the highest.
For many populist parties, the Commission has become a totem of technocracy that they can attack in order to sow anti-Brussels sentiment.
A representative case is that of the National Rally which targets the German official as an ally of the French president, whom it accuses of “selling out” European industry to foreign powers, and even to undermine the use of French as a lingua franca in European institutions.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz is pursuing similar tactics. His government uses public funds to criticize Ursula von der Leyen in public display campaigns.
Of all occupations, manual workers are most likely to have a negative view of the work of the Commission (37%), followed by self-employed workers and merchandise owners (35%).
Support for EU membership remains high
Although the Commission is struggling to build a reputation in many member states, EU membership still enjoys broad support in member states, according to the poll.
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Asked whether EU membership is a good or bad thing for their country, an average of 62% of respondents answered “good”, with support strongest in Portugal, Spain and Denmark , and lowest in the Czech Republic, France and Italy.
Unsurprisingly, skepticism about the benefits of EU membership is strongest among far-right voters belonging to the ID party, 37% of whom think it is a bad thing for their country.
This figure drops to just 3% among Green voters, 81% of whom consider EU membership to be a good thing.
Even among those who vote for parties belonging to the CRE group – such as Vox in Spain, Fratelli d’Italia in Italy or Law and Justice in Poland – and who are generally considered populist Eurosceptics, 48% consider joining the EU as a good thing.
This data confirms what is becoming evident during election campaigns in many EU countries: the Commission is the institution most likely to arouse feelings of Euroscepticism among voters, and parties located on the periphery of the EU. The political spectrum are ready to capitalize on this point.
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