A recent poll shows that most people in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain would support the UK joining the EU. The YouGov poll reveals that most people are in favour of the UK returning to the European Union, but not on the same terms as before.
Ten years after British MPs voted to hold a referendum that led to the UK’s exit from the European Union, the poll showed that a majority in the bloc’s four largest member states would support the UK rejoining, but not on the same terms as before.
The YouGov poll, conducted in six Western European countries, including the UK, also confirms that a clear majority of British voters now support the country rejoining the bloc, but only if it can retain the right to choose that it enjoyed previously.
The result, according to pollsters, is a “deadlock in public opinion,” even though the likelihood that the Labour government in the UK, which agreed this year to “reset” relations with the bloc, will try to return to the EU seems extremely low.
A YouGov poll conducted by EuroTrack showed that at least half of those surveyed in the four largest EU countries — France, Germany, Italy and Spain — were in favour of allowing the United Kingdom to rejoin, with percentages ranging from 51% in Italy to 53% in France, 60% in Spain and 63% in Germany.
Special terms
However, when asked whether the UK should be allowed to return on the same terms as when it left, including not joining the euro and remaining outside the passport-free Schengen area, the figures changed significantly.
Only a fifth of respondents in the four largest EU member states, ranging from 19% in Italy and France to 21% in Spain and 22% in Germany, believe that the UK should be allowed to return as if it had never left the EU, while 58-62% believe that this should be part of all major EU policies.
Sociologists conducted a stress test on Western Europeans’ attitudes by asking whether the United Kingdom should be allowed to rejoin the EU only on condition that it retains its previous rights to opt out. Some (33-36%) found this acceptable, but even more (41-52%) were against it.
What the people of Great Britain want
In the UK, while 54% of Britons supported reunification with the EU when asked this question separately, this figure fell to 36% if reunification meant giving up previous options. Under these conditions, 45% of Britons opposed extending membership.
The poll showed that the remaining voters and those who supported more pro-European parties would still generally support reunification if it meant switching to the euro and joining the Schengen area, albeit at much lower rates.
Almost 60% of those who voted to remain said they would support reunification with the EU without a prior vote, which is about 25 percentage points lower than in the case of a vague question, as well as 58% of those who voted for Labour (-23 points) and 49% of Liberal Democrat voters (-31 points).
The percentage of Eurosceptic voters who want to rejoin without special treatment has more or less halved: from 21% to 10% among those who vote to leave the EU, from 25% to 12% among Conservative voters and from 15% to 9% among supporters of reform in the UK.
The fifth country surveyed in continental Europe, Denmark, found itself in the minority. Respondents from this country would very much like (72%) the UK to rejoin the EU and were more enthusiastic than larger member states about it retaining its previous status as a member (43%).
The Scottish issue
Denmark, however, is one of three EU member states that adhere to the principle of opting out of key areas of EU policy. The survey also showed that a significant majority of residents in all five continental countries (63-75%) would support an independent Scotland joining the EU.
The survey of representative samples of more than 2,000 adults in the United Kingdom and Germany and more than 1,000 in Denmark, France, Italy and Spain was conducted on June 12-27.
