Two-thirds of EU citizens back UK rejoining bloc, survey finds

Activists hold EU flags during the weekly anti-Brexit and pro-EU protest in London’s Parliament Square this week, calling on the UK government to rejoin the EU. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Activists hold EU flags during the weekly anti-Brexit and pro-EU protest in London’s Parliament Square this week, calling on the UK government to rejoin the EU. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Shutterstock Two-thirds of EU citizens back UK rejoining bloc, survey finds Even voters for far-right and Eurosceptic parties back closer relations, polling says Two-thirds of EU citizens would back Britain rejoining the bloc, while most UK voters say Brexit has been bad for the issues they care about and want closer ties, including levels of integration – such as free movement – long seen as toxic, a survey has found. Ten years after the Brexit referendum, the polling by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) , a thinktank, found 66% of respondents across 15 countries felt UK membership was a very good, good or “neither a good nor a bad” idea. The average comfortably exceeded those favouring a closer relationship (59%) or the status quo (46%). Support for rejoin ranged from lows of 56% in Bulgaria and 59% in France and Italy to highs of 75% in the Netherlands and Denmark. Even voters for far-right and EU-critical parties said they would support closer relations between the bloc and the UK, including a majority of backers of Poland’s Confederation (71%), Germany’s AfD (58%) and France’s National Rally (58%). Many European leaders have reflected this view. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has said the door is “always open” and Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said Spain would “absolutely” support British membership. Alexander Stubb, Finland’s president, has explicitly named the UK as a candidate for membership, saying: “We need a UK voice in Europe. We really miss you guys.” In May, the European Green party formally invited the UK to rejoin . In the UK, the polling, carried out in May, found voters across party lines, including supporters of Reform UK, believed Brexit had had a negative impact on the country and on many key issues at the heart of the debate a decade ago. British respondents said leaving had hit their main priorities: the cost of living (66%), the economy (65%), youth opportunity (57%), illegal immigration (56%) and trade (56%). Even most leave voters (58%) said Brexit had made illegal immigration worse. Starmer warns against ‘looking backwards’ to Brexit after rivals back UK’s return to EU Read more Asked to identify the primary benefits of Brexit, the most common response, by a wide margin, was “don’t know”, followed closely by “none of the above” – suggesting most British voters now feel Brexit did real damage for no apparent upside. That overwhelmingly negative verdict on the decision to leave translates into a strong desire for a closer relationship with the bloc: 75% of UK respond