The majority of UK citizens want a closer relationship with the EU after Brexit. Specifically, 55% see it favorably compared to 10% who want more distance and 22% who consider that ties should be kept as they are. These are the data from a survey carried out by the European Council for Foreign Relations (ECFR) coinciding with the first months of Keir Starmer’s Labor Government, which has opted to relaunch a new relationship with the four-year community club. after the effective breakup. In fact, this week the Minister of Economy of that country, Rachel Reeves, met with her counterparts from the euro zone and called for greater cooperation in trade and defense.
A majority of those surveyed believe that the United Kingdom would benefit from closer ties with the EU on issues such as migration management, strengthening security, stimulating the economy, maintaining strength against the US or China or combating climate change. The feeling of greater harmony with the EU is overwhelming among those who voted in favor of remaining in the community club, but 26% of those who were in favor of Brexit now consider that there should be a closer relationship.
“In the minds of voters, 2016 is in the distant past. When British voters made their decision to leave the EU, Barack Obama was in the White House. The UK was enjoying a ‘golden age’ in its relations with China. The Covid-19 pandemic had not yet hit. And Putin had not yet launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Many Brexiteers expected Britain to prosper as a trading nation in a world of increasingly open markets,” analyzes the ECFR. The survey, with a sample of more than 9,000 people, was conducted shortly after Donald Trump’s victory.
Half of Britons believe that their Government should prioritize the relationship with the EU while only 17% believe that it should put the US first. Likewise, the majority rejects following that power on issues such as the war in Ukraine if Trump withdraws support or the trade war with China.
“On the economy, there is overwhelming recognition that the EU is more important to the UK than the US, perhaps reflecting the fact that the UK trades almost three times as much with its European partners as with its US allies. ”, notes the ECFR.
“On the EU side, although most governments were saddened by the decision of British voters, quite a few of them were relieved to see the back of an often problematic and reluctant partner,” the report states. think tank: “Brexit and the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU matter more to British respondents than to citizens of other states.”
For European respondents, there is a greater disparity in responses. Only 34% of French people advocate for closer collaboration (28% for maintaining it as it is and 11% for distancing it) while Germans are the most inclined towards rapprochement (45%). The French are also the most skeptical about facilitating the United Kingdom’s access to the single market after leaving the EU (41%) while the Poles (54%) and Germans (53%) are the most favorable.
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