Pro-Europeanism
Pro-Europeanism is a political stance committed to the consolidation of Europe through deeper political, economic, and cultural integration, most prominently via the European Union (EU), with the foundational aim of preventing future conflicts and promoting collective prosperity after the World Wars.[1] Emerging in the mid-20th century amid efforts to reconcile former adversaries, it has driven the establishment of supranational institutions that pool aspects of national sovereignty to achieve shared goals, such as the customs union in the 1950s and the Single European Act in 1986.[2] Key achievements include the creation of the EU Single Market, which has removed trade barriers and increased intra-EU commerce by multiples of prior levels, fostering economic interdependence and growth.[2] Empirical studies indicate that EU membership correlates with substantial trade expansions—estimated at around 56%—and enhanced productivity in member states, contributing to higher incomes and stability.[3][4] Despite these outcomes, Pro-Europeanism faces persistent controversies, particularly accusations of eroding national sovereignty through centralized decision-making and fiscal transfers that favor wealthier net contributors over recipients, exacerbating regional disparities.[5] Critics highlight a democratic deficit, where EU policies are shaped by unelected bureaucrats and an indirectly accountable European Commission, distancing governance from direct citizen input and fueling populist backlashes, as seen in events like Brexit.[6][7] Mainstream parties across the center-left and center-right spectrum generally endorse it for its stabilizing effects, while opposition arises from nationalist groups wary of cultural homogenization and unchecked migration enabled by open borders.[8] This tension underscores the causal trade-offs of integration: empirical gains in peace and efficiency against the realist challenges of reconciling diverse national interests within a supranational framework.[2]Definition and Core Concepts
Ideological Foundations
Pro-Europeanism is fundamentally anchored in European federalism, an ideology advocating a supranational federation that pools sovereignty from nation-states to foster lasting peace, economic interdependence, and democratic governance across the continent. This vision posits that national divisions, exacerbated by nationalism and totalitarianism, precipitated conflicts like the World Wars, necessitating a structured unity that balances centralized authority with regional autonomy. Core principles include subsidiarity, whereby decisions are made at the most local effective level, and solidarity, entailing mutual support among diverse communities to address disparities.[9] Federalism distinguishes itself from mere confederation by emphasizing enforceable supranational institutions, such as a bicameral legislature representing both citizens and states, inspired by models like the 1787 U.S. Constitution.[9] Philosophically, these foundations trace to Enlightenment cosmopolitanism, particularly Immanuel Kant's 1795 essay Perpetual Peace, which proposed a "federation of free states" bound by republican constitutions and international law to prevent war through mutual respect for sovereignty and cosmopolitan rights.[10] This evolved into modern applications emphasizing "unity in diversity," where federalism serves as a decentralized mechanism to limit power while enabling collective action, and constitutionalism ensures shared legal frameworks upholding human rights and rule of law.[10] The ideology critiques nationalism as inherently divisive and prone to authoritarianism, extending liberal, democratic, and socialist values beyond national borders to a pan-European scale.[9] A pivotal articulation came in the Ventotene Manifesto of 1941, drafted by Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi while confined by Fascist authorities on the island of Ventotene. The document diagnosed Europe's crises as stemming from sovereign states' rivalries and urged a "free and united Europe" via federal institutions to dismantle barriers, promote social justice, and avert future dictatorships, laying groundwork for post-war integration efforts.[11] This federalist blueprint intertwined with functionalist approaches, starting with economic cooperation to build political union organically, as later embodied in initiatives like the European Coal and Steel Community.[12] Pro-Europeanism thus synthesizes these strands into a progressive narrative of inevitable integration, often framing the European Union as the institutional realization of Europe's shared destiny, though critics note its elite origins and selective emphasis on supranationalism over national democracies.[13]Distinctions from Related Ideologies
Pro-Europeanism contrasts sharply with Euroscepticism, the latter entailing criticism or outright opposition to supranational integration, often prioritizing national sovereignty over collective decision-making in areas like monetary policy and border controls.[14][15] Pro-Europeans, by contrast, endorse mechanisms such as qualified majority voting in the Council of the EU—introduced via the 1986 Single European Act—to facilitate efficient policymaking, viewing such transfers of competence as essential for addressing transnational challenges like economic interdependence, whereas Eurosceptics decry them as erosions of democratic accountability at the state level.[16] Within the spectrum of integrationist views, pro-Europeanism differs from eurofederalism in its pragmatic flexibility rather than insistence on a sovereign federal superstate akin to the United States. Eurofederalists advocate structural reforms like direct election of a powerful European executive and harmonized fiscal policy to create binding unity, as articulated in initiatives like the 2017 Rome Declaration by federalist groups pushing for treaty changes toward confederation-to-federation evolution.[17] Pro-Europeanism, however, encompasses intergovernmental models where member states retain veto rights in sensitive domains such as foreign policy, reflecting the EU's actual hybrid structure since the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which balanced supranational elements with national opt-outs.[18] Pro-Europeanism also diverges from Atlanticism by emphasizing endogenous European capabilities over dependence on transatlantic security guarantees. Atlanticism, rooted in post-1945 NATO frameworks, prioritizes U.S.-led alliances for defense—as evidenced by the 1979 dual-track decision on intermediate-range missiles—potentially subordinating EU foreign policy to Washington consensus.[19] In pro-European perspectives, this manifests in advocacy for "strategic autonomy," such as the EU's 2022 Strategic Compass document outlining independent defense procurement and rapid deployment forces by 2025, to mitigate risks from fluctuating U.S. commitments without rejecting NATO complementarity.[20] Distinct from historical pan-Europeanism, which envisioned continent-wide cultural and political solidarity potentially spanning from Lisbon to Vladivostok—as in Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi's 1923 Paneuropa movement—modern pro-Europeanism is institutionally anchored to the EU's 27-member framework, excluding non-integrated states and focusing on legal-economic convergence rather than vague civilizational unity.[1] This delimitation underscores pro-Europeanism's operational emphasis on treaties like the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which codified differentiated integration speeds via enhanced cooperation clauses, over pan-Europeanism's broader, often non-binding aspirational ideals.[21]Historical Evolution
Pre-20th Century Precursors
Early medieval thinkers laid foundational concepts for supranational European cooperation amid frequent wars and crusading efforts. In 1305–1307, French lawyer Pierre Dubois outlined in De recuperatione Terrae Sanctae a proposal for a permanent council comprising European princes, clergy, and lay representatives to arbitrate disputes, enforce collective decisions, and coordinate military actions, such as crusades against non-Christians; this structure anticipated mechanisms for resolving conflicts without unilateral warfare.[22][23] Similarly, around 1313, Dante Alighieri argued in De Monarchia for a universal secular monarchy under the Holy Roman Emperor to unify Christendom, ensuring peace by subordinating temporal authority to a single ruler independent of papal interference, thereby preventing divisions that fueled strife.[24] In the 15th century, Bohemian King George of Poděbrady advanced practical alliance-building in 1464 through a draft treaty circulated to European sovereigns, envisioning a confederation of Christian states with a permanent assembly for arbitration, mutual defense pacts against external threats like the Ottoman Empire, and penalties for treaty violators enforced by collective embargo or war; though unrealized due to religious tensions, it represented an early multilateral security framework.[25] Enlightenment proposals shifted toward rational, voluntary associations emphasizing balance and republicanism. Charles-Irénée Castel, Abbé de Saint-Pierre, published Projet pour rendre la paix perpétuelle en Europe in 1713, advocating a perpetual confederation of sovereign European states with a continuous diet in a neutral city to maintain power equilibrium, adjudicate quarrels via majority vote, and impose sanctions on aggressors, drawing on post-Utrecht Treaty diplomacy.[26][27] Immanuel Kant refined this in Zum ewigen Frieden (1795), positing that a federation of independent republics—bound by international right rather than coercive empire—would secure perpetual peace through mutual respect for sovereignty, republican constitutions fostering public accountability, and cosmopolitan hospitality reducing interstate hostilities.[28][29] The 19th century saw rhetorical momentum toward federal models inspired by American precedents. Italian nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini promoted a "United States of Europe" in works like Europe: Its Political and Social Problems (1840s onward), envisioning a democratic federation replacing dynastic conflicts with representative assemblies to harmonize nationalities. French writer Victor Hugo popularized the phrase in his August 21, 1849, speech to the Paris International Peace Congress, urging Europe to form a "United States of Europe" as a continental federation embodying liberty and fraternity, transcending borders for collective progress and ending fratricidal wars.[30][31] These visions, though often utopian and unrealized amid nationalism's rise, prefigured 20th-century integration by prioritizing institutional cooperation over conquest.Post-World War II Origins
The end of World War II in Europe on May 8, 1945, left the continent in ruins, with an estimated 40 million dead and economies shattered, prompting leaders to seek mechanisms for lasting peace amid emerging Cold War tensions and the division of Germany.[32] Initial efforts focused on economic reconstruction, such as the U.S.-led Marshall Plan announced in June 1947, which allocated $13 billion in aid primarily to Western European nations to counter Soviet influence and revive industry, fostering early multilateral cooperation through the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) established in April 1948.[32] These steps emphasized interdependence but remained intergovernmental, lacking supranational authority; pro-European advocates, however, pushed for deeper political integration to prevent nationalist revivals, drawing on ideas like Winston Churchill's September 1946 Zurich speech advocating a "United States of Europe" to reconcile France and Germany.[33] A pivotal advancement occurred on May 9, 1950, when French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, guided by planner Jean Monnet, issued the Schuman Declaration proposing the pooling of French and West German coal and steel production—the sinews of modern warfare—under a supranational High Authority open to other European states, declaring that such integration would make war "not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible."[34][35] This initiative addressed French security concerns over German industrial revival while promoting economic efficiency, reflecting pragmatic realism over idealistic federalism; Monnet, a cognac merchant turned diplomat, had advocated since 1943 for functional integration starting with key sectors to build irreversible unity.[36][37] The proposal culminated in the Treaty of Paris, signed on April 18, 1951, by Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) effective July 23, 1952, with institutions including the High Authority, a Common Assembly, and a Court of Justice to oversee joint management of these resources.[32][38] The ECSC marked the first transfer of sovereignty to a European-level body, driven by elite consensus among leaders like Konrad Adenauer of West Germany, who viewed it as atonement for Nazi aggression and a bulwark against communism, though public support varied amid postwar hardships.[39] This supranational experiment, managing production quotas and trade without veto powers for members, laid the institutional groundwork for pro-Europeanism as a doctrine favoring pooled sovereignty to secure peace and prosperity, influencing subsequent treaties despite initial resistance from figures wary of diluted national control.[40][41]Key Milestones in EU Formation
The origins of the European Union lie in post-World War II initiatives to integrate economies and avert future conflicts among former adversaries. On 9 May 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman issued the Schuman Declaration, proposing a supranational authority to manage French and German production of coal and steel, the essential resources for war-making industries.[42] This initiative culminated in the signing of the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) on 18 April 1951 by six founding members—Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands—which entered into force on 23 July 1952 and marked the first concrete step toward pooled sovereignty in strategic sectors.[42][43] Building on the ECSC's framework, the Treaties of Rome were signed on 25 March 1957, creating the European Economic Community (EEC) for a common market and customs union, alongside the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) to develop peaceful nuclear energy; both took effect on 1 January 1958, expanding integration to trade, agriculture, and transport policies among the six founders.[42][43] The 1965 Merger Treaty, effective from 1 July 1967, consolidated the separate executives of the ECSC, EEC, and Euratom into single institutions—the European Commission and Council of the European Communities—streamlining decision-making.[44] The first enlargement occurred on 1 January 1973, when Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom acceded, increasing membership to nine states and extending the common market northward.[42][44] Further expansions followed: Greece joined on 1 January 1981 as the tenth member, Spain and Portugal on 1 January 1986 as the eleventh and twelfth, respectively.[42] The Single European Act, signed in 1986 and entering force on 1 July 1987, introduced qualified majority voting in the Council and set a deadline for completing the internal market by 1992, accelerating economic unification.[44] A pivotal shift came with the Maastricht Treaty, signed on 7 February 1992 and effective from 1 November 1993, which formally established the European Union (EU), introduced pillars for common foreign and security policy and justice cooperation, and laid groundwork for economic and monetary union including a single currency.[42][43] The third enlargement on 1 January 1995 added Austria, Finland, and Sweden, bringing membership to fifteen.[42] The euro was launched as an electronic currency on 1 January 1999 in eleven states (Greece joined in 2001), with physical notes and coins circulating from 1 January 2002 in twelve countries.[44] Subsequent enlargements dramatically expanded the EU: on 1 May 2004, ten states—Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia—joined, the largest single expansion, incorporating much of Central and Eastern Europe post-Cold War.[42] Bulgaria and Romania acceded on 1 January 2007, followed by Croatia on 1 July 2013, raising membership to 28 (prior to the UK's 2020 departure).[44] The Lisbon Treaty, signed in 2007 and entering force on 1 December 2009, reformed institutions by enhancing the European Parliament's legislative powers, creating a permanent President of the European Council, and strengthening the High Representative for foreign affairs, adapting the EU to enlarged scale and new competencies.[44] These milestones reflect incremental deepening and widening of integration, driven by economic interdependence and geopolitical stability goals.[44]Political and Institutional Expressions
Pro-Integration Political Parties
Pro-integration political parties primarily consist of mainstream center-right, center-left, and liberal formations that advocate transferring additional competences to EU institutions, fostering supranational policies in economic, defense, and foreign affairs domains. These parties, aligned with European Parliament groups such as the European People's Party (EPP), Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe, and Greens/European Free Alliance, have historically propelled treaty expansions like the 1992 Maastricht Treaty establishing the euro and the 2009 Lisbon Treaty enhancing qualified majority voting.[45] Their positions stem from convictions that pooled sovereignty yields economic scale advantages and geopolitical leverage, evidenced by intra-EU trade rising from 48% of members' total trade in 1992 to over 60% by 2022. In Germany, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) exemplify center-right pro-integrationism, with roots in post-World War II efforts led by Konrad Adenauer to integrate West Germany into supranational structures via the 1951 European Coal and Steel Community. The parties' 2025 coalition agreement with the SPD endorses pathways to common EU defense and political union, including treaty revisions for enhanced capabilities against threats like Russian aggression.[46] Under leader Friedrich Merz, the CDU maintains Atlanticist and pro-EU orientations, prioritizing integration to bolster Germany's export-dependent economy while upholding subsidiarity principles to limit overreach.[47] France's Renaissance (formerly La République En Marche!), established in 2016 by Emmanuel Macron, drives ambitious integration agendas, proposing in Macron's 2017 Sorbonne address a eurozone budget, shared defense fund, and European Monetary Fund to counter global competitors. The party secured 23 seats in the 2019 European Parliament elections and continues advocating fiscal instruments like the 2020 NextGenerationEU recovery fund, which disbursed €750 billion in grants and loans, as mechanisms for convergent growth.[48] Despite critiques of Macron's approach as insufficiently federalist, Renaissance positions emphasize "strategic autonomy" through joint capabilities, such as the 2018 European Intervention Initiative involving nine states.[49] Liberal parties like the Netherlands' Democrats 66 (D66) integrate pro-EU stances into domestic platforms, campaigning for deepened single market rules, climate solidarity via the European Green Deal, and rule-of-law enforcement against backsliding members. D66's 2021 national election manifesto and 2024 European push for stronger EU executive powers reflect empirical arguments for integration to address transboundary challenges like migration and energy security.[50] Similarly, in Spain, S&D-affiliated PSOE under Pedro Sánchez has supported integration tools like the 2022 REPowerEU plan to diversify energy away from Russia, aligning with broader socialist emphases on social convergence.[45] Pan-European outfits such as Volt Europa, launched in 2017, represent explicit federalist advocacy, calling for a EU constitution, directly elected president, and senate to replace the Council, with elected MEPs from Germany (1 seat), Netherlands (1), and others in 2024. Volt's positions prioritize causal mechanisms like uniform taxation to eliminate distortions, drawing on data showing persistent GDP per capita gaps between core and periphery states post-1999 euro adoption.[51] Following the June 2024 European Parliament elections, pro-integration groups sustained dominance with EPP at 188 seats, S&D at 136, Renew at 80, and Greens at 53 out of 720, facilitating majorities for legislation like the 2024 AI Act harmonizing regulations across borders.[52] This configuration underscores their role in countering eurosceptic fringes, though internal variances—such as EPP's emphasis on intergovernmentalism in migration—highlight limits to uniform federal aspirations.[45]Influential Thinkers and Leaders
Jean Monnet, often called the "father of Europe," played a pivotal role in conceptualizing supranational economic cooperation as a means to prevent future wars between France and Germany, drafting the blueprint for the Schuman Plan that proposed pooling coal and steel resources under a common authority.[53] His efforts culminated in the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951, the first institutional step toward integration, which he served as the first president of from 1952 to 1955.[54] Monnet later founded the Action Committee for the United States of Europe in 1955 to advocate for deeper political union after setbacks like the failed European Defence Community.[55] Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, publicly announced the Schuman Declaration on May 9, 1950, proposing Franco-German production of coal and steel be placed under a supranational High Authority to make war "not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible."[34] This initiative, secretly prepared with Monnet's input, led to the Treaty of Paris in 1951, creating the ECSC with six founding members: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.[56] Schuman's functionalist approach emphasized concrete economic achievements over abstract federalism to build trust post-World War II.[57] Konrad Adenauer, West Germany's first Chancellor from 1949 to 1963, championed reconciliation with France through integration, overcoming domestic resistance by framing ECSC membership as essential for regaining sovereignty via Western alliances amid Cold War divisions.[58] He supported the 1957 Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), viewing economic interdependence as a bulwark against communism and a path to German rehabilitation in Europe.[59] Adenauer's pragmatic diplomacy, including his 1950 message urging faster integration to counter U.S. criticisms of European disunity, solidified Germany's role in multilateral frameworks.[60] Altiero Spinelli, an Italian federalist intellectual, co-authored the Ventotene Manifesto in 1941 while confined by Fascist authorities, advocating a United States of Europe with a federal constitution to transcend nationalism and imperialism as root causes of totalitarianism and war.[11] The document, smuggled out and circulated post-war, influenced early federalist movements and Spinelli's later parliamentary efforts, including the 1984 Draft Treaty on European Union that proposed direct elections and supranational powers.[12] His vision prioritized political union over mere economic cooperation, critiquing intergovernmentalism as insufficient for lasting peace.[61] Later leaders advanced integration amid evolving challenges. Helmut Kohl, German Chancellor from 1982 to 1998, drove the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which formalized the European Union, introduced EU citizenship, and laid groundwork for the euro, linking German reunification in 1990 to deeper monetary union with France.[62] Kohl viewed the treaty as essential for stabilizing post-Cold War Europe, stating in 1992 that it signposted "the way ahead" for political and economic unity.[63] Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1994, orchestrated the completion of the single market by 1992 via the 1986 Single European Act, removing barriers to goods, services, capital, and people across member states.[64] His tenure advanced the Schengen Area for border-free travel and prepared the euro's framework, emphasizing "ever closer union" through institutional reforms despite opposition from national governments wary of sovereignty loss.[65] Delors' method integrated economic liberalization with social dialogue, fostering growth rates averaging 2.5% annually in the Community during the late 1980s.[66]Multinational Initiatives and Partnerships
The European Movement International, founded on October 25, 1948, following the Hague Congress organized by figures including Winston Churchill, serves as a primary multinational platform coordinating pro-integration efforts across national councils in over 40 countries.[67] It unites civil society groups, employers, trade unions, non-governmental organizations, and political parties to advocate for deeper political, economic, and social European unity grounded in peace, democracy, and solidarity.[67] The organization's activities include lobbying European institutions for policy reforms, such as enhanced democratic accountability in the EU, and hosting events to mobilize public support for integration initiatives like the single market and common foreign policy.[67] The Union of European Federalists (UEF), established in 1946, represents another key multinational entity focused on transforming the EU into a federal union through institutional reforms.[68] Operating via national sections across Europe, the UEF prioritizes comprehensive treaty revisions to centralize fiscal, defense, and foreign policy powers, arguing that such changes would enhance Europe's global sovereignty and crisis response capabilities.[69] Its initiatives encompass campaigns for a directly elected EU executive, youth training programs on federalist principles, and coalitions with parliamentary groups to influence outcomes like the 2022 Conference on the Future of Europe, though critics note limited empirical success in achieving federal structures amid persistent national vetoes.[69][68] Beyond advocacy networks, pro-European partnerships often manifest in targeted intergovernmental frameworks, such as the 1963 Élysée Treaty between France and West Germany, which institutionalized annual summits and military cooperation to underpin broader Community integration.[70] Renewed in 2019 with provisions for joint defense projects, this bilateral pact exemplifies causal linkages between bilateral trust-building and multinational progress, contributing to milestones like the 1992 Maastricht Treaty by fostering habits of consultation that reduced historical animosities. Similar dynamics appear in the Benelux Union's economic coordination since 1944, which prefigured supranational models by harmonizing tariffs and labor mobility among Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, influencing the 1957 Treaty of Rome. These initiatives, while advancing specific integrations, face scrutiny for overemphasizing supranationalism at the expense of national parliaments' roles, as evidenced by stalled reforms in UEF-backed proposals where empirical data from EU Council voting records show persistent blocking minorities.[69] Nonetheless, their multinational scope has facilitated cross-border dialogues that empirically correlate with reduced intra-European trade barriers, per World Bank metrics on post-1950s commerce growth.Empirical Support and Public Perception
Economic and Trade Benefits
The European Union's single market and customs union have facilitated tariff-free trade and the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people among member states, thereby reducing transaction costs and enhancing economic efficiency.[71] This framework, established progressively since the 1957 Treaty of Rome and completed with the single market in 1993, eliminates internal customs duties and quantitative restrictions, allowing seamless cross-border commerce that accounts for a significant portion of members' economic activity.[72] Intra-EU trade in goods has expanded substantially, with the value of exports to other member states increasing by more than 9% annually on average between 2002 and 2024, reflecting deepened supply chain integration and market access for exporters.[73] In 2024, intra-EU trade in goods represented a larger share of the bloc's GDP compared to previous years, with goods trade volumes triple those of services, underscoring the customs union's role in amplifying internal commerce over external dependencies.[74] Empirical analyses indicate that such integration has boosted trade intensity gradually across European countries since the mid-20th century, driven by reduced barriers and harmonized regulations.[75] Economic integration has contributed to GDP growth through resource reallocation and productivity gains, as evidenced by panel data regressions showing positive long-term effects on growth rates in integrated economies.[76][77] For instance, the 2004 EU enlargement promoted income convergence and overall expansion by reallocating resources toward higher-productivity sectors, with Central and Eastern European members experiencing faster GDP growth than the pre-enlargement EU average post-accession.[78][79] Studies further quantify that fuller single market implementation could yield up to 9% additional GDP for the EU through barrier removal, though realization depends on addressing persistent regulatory divergences.[80][4]Polling Data and Public Opinion Trends
Public opinion polls indicate sustained support for European integration across EU member states, with recent surveys showing historically high levels of trust in the European Union. The Standard Eurobarometer 102, conducted in autumn 2024, reported that 74% of respondents identified as citizens of the EU, marking the highest figure in over two decades, while trust in the EU reached 47%, up from previous years amid geopolitical challenges.[81] Similarly, a March 2025 Eurobarometer highlighted approval ratings for the EU at record highs, correlating with reduced influence of Eurosceptic parties in national elections.[82] Support for deeper integration manifests in preferences for collective action on security and enlargement. An Institut Delors analysis of a July 2025 Eurobarometer found 81% of EU citizens favoring a common security and defense policy, with opposition at just 15%, reflecting heightened concerns over global instability.[83] On enlargement, 56% expressed favor toward further EU expansion in the latest available surveys, with approval nearing two-thirds among those aged 15-39, indicating generational optimism for integration.[84] Nearly 90% of respondents in a September 2025 Eurobarometer agreed that EU countries must unite more to address global challenges, underscoring instrumental support tied to crisis response.[85] These figures, drawn from EU-commissioned polling, provide standardized empirical measures but warrant caution due to the sponsoring body's stake in positive outcomes, though cross-verification with independent surveys like Pew Research yields comparable trends.[86] Country-level variations reveal pockets of skepticism amid overall positivity. Pew Research Center's 2025 global attitudes survey across 25 countries, including EU members, found a median of 62% holding favorable views of the EU, with increases since 2024 in nations like Germany (+8 percentage points) and stable highs in others such as Poland and Sweden.[86] In contrast, YouGov polling from October 2025 showed lower perceptions of net benefits in France (21% believing EU membership improved their country) and Italy (30%), compared to higher figures elsewhere like the UK (35% post-Brexit reflection).[87] Gallup's March 2025 data across member states indicated stronger approval for EU institutions than national governments in several cases, attributing this to perceived competence in economic and trade domains.[88]| Country/Region | Favorable View of EU (%) | Source and Date |
|---|---|---|
| EU Median (9 members) | 63 | Pew, June 2024[89] |
| EU-Wide Trust | 47 | Eurobarometer 102, Autumn 2024[81] |
| France (net benefit perception) | 21 | YouGov, October 2025[87] |
| Germany (change since 2024) | +8 | Pew, September 2025[86] |