More than 65% of the people living in the member states of the European Union are optimistic about their future, according to the findings of a new survey commissioned by the European Parliament and Published on Friday.
A total of 66% of the people who responded to the survey, conducted between November and December 2020 by Kantar, the world's leading data, insights and consulting company, said they were optimistic about the future of the 27-member-bloc.
The survey found an increase of 10 percentage points in the number of EU citizens with a positive image of the EU compared to autumn 2019.
"In every Member State, more than half of respondents say they are optimistic about the future of the EU," the report said. Ireland has the highest proportion of citizens with an optimistic view of 89%, while France has the lowest rate with 52%.
Some 71% of the respondents said they are in favor of the EU, while 44% said they support the EU but not the way it works, pointing to the need for reform.
Asked about EU's COVID-19 recovery plan, nearly 72% of respondents found the plan helpful for their country's economy.
More than half of respondents (52%) expect their individual living conditions in one year’s time to be the same as today, whilst one quarter of respondents (24%) believe they will even be worse off in one year’s time, while 21% think that they would be better off.
The pandemic and other global challenges such as the climate emergency sustain citizens' call for fundamental EU reform. 63% of respondents want the European Parliament to play a more important role in the future, an increase of 5 points compared to autumn 2019.
According to European Parliament President, David Sassoli, "the message of this survey is clear: European citizens support the European Union and they find that the EU is the right place to seek solutions to the crisis. But reform of the EU is clearly something citizens want to see and that is why we need to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe as soon as possible."
