Europeans want a united Europe but question whether it can get there, study finds

 

Europeans want a united Europe but question whether it can get there, study finds

 

A continent-wide crisis of confidence is creating fertile ground for far-right narratives of decline, report suggests

 

Jon Henley Europe correspondent

Wed 9 Sep 2026 07.00 CEST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/09/europeans-want-united-europe-union-study-finds

 

Europeans overwhelmingly want a strong, united and independent Europe but question whether it can get there, according to a study that suggests a continent-wide crisis of confidence is creating fertile ground for far-right narratives of decline.

 

The report, based on 5,800 interviews in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK and analysis of the way Europe is discussed in the politics and media of 15 countries, paints a picture of an ambitious but disillusioned public.

 

It found that 68% of respondents spoke about Europe in terms of a “general deterioration or loss of normality”, compared with just 12% who said they viewed the present moment as a time of “European awakening and renewal”.

 

Many recognised the major challenges facing Europe, including war (43%), economic pressures (33%) and the need for greater international autonomy (29%). But 74% said Europe was not dealing well with them, and 56% believed its future was “in danger”.

 

The problem is not lack of ambition: an overwhelming 73% of respondents harbour a strong European vision of unity and political integration (35%), peace and security (28%) or prosperity (19%), while only 13% hope for “less Europe” or EU dissolution.

 

For many, said the study’s author, Pawel Zerka, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) thinktank, the problem was “not that they’ve stopped wanting a stronger Europe, but that they no longer believe it’s achievable”.

 

The result, Zerka added, was an “imagination gap. People can picture the kind of Europe they want, but struggle to imagine a credible path from where it is today to where they want it to be. These are matters of policy, not just communication.”

 

A week before the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is due to deliver her annual “state of the union” address in Brussels, Zerka said the evidence suggested the bloc needed “fewer grand promises” and more “proof of trajectory”.

 

The study cites dozens of conversations with Europeans. “I’m regularly relieved I live in Europe. It’s not perfect and some things are going in the wrong direction, but no region in the world is safer, freer and more democratic,” one German said.

 

However, while he identified the climate crisis and far-right parties as the continent’s greatest challenges, he said they were not being tackled effectively. “Elections focus too much on the here and now, and not enough on the future,” he said.

 

The respondent said he would like Europe in 20 years’ time to be “free, democratic, sustainable, less indebted, politically further to the left [and] peaceful”. Asked whether he thought that was likely to happen, he said: “No.”

 

The study classed Europe’s voters in four categories. The Positives (19%) are staunch pro-Europeans who view current crises as a catalyst for a stronger, more integrated union. The Negatives (39%) believe Europe’s best days are behind it.

 

Almost half of people in France, Germany and Italy – and almost all who voted for radical-right parties such as Germany’s AfD, France’s RN, the Dutch PVV and Reform UK – were Negatives, with 83% speaking of Europe in terms of loss and decline.