One standout finding from an exclusive Euronews poll by Ipsos, encompassing nearly 26,000 respondents across 18 EU member states ahead of the European Parliament elections scheduled between June 6th and 9th, is that 51% of Europeans hold a "negative" perception of the bloc's influence on migration policy, with only 16% expressing a "positive" viewpoint. Additionally, 32% indicate a perception of "neither positive nor negative" impact. This sentiment spans across genders, age demographics, and professions and remains consistent in most countries, with France (62%), Austria (60%), and Hungary (58%) being the most critical, while Denmark (26%), Romania (27%), and Finland (32%) are comparatively less critical.
The most notable disparities emerge in voting preferences, with the strongest criticisms unsurprisingly coming from supporters of the far-right Identity and Democracy group (78%) and the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (65%), followed by the Left (55%), positioned at the opposite end of the political spectrum.
Voters aligning with the center-right European People's Party (EPP), accused of adopting far-right rhetoric for electoral gain, express criticism in a more nuanced manner: 46% hold negative views, 20% positive, and 34% neither.
Supporters of the center-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) are more undecided: 33% negative, 24% positive, and 42% neither.
Overall, the evaluation of the bloc's impact on migration policy is the most critical among the six areas surveyed, including responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.