Over Half of People in 25 States Think EU Project Makes Europe Stronger

Over half (53%) people across the 25 countries worldwide think the European project has made Europe stronger, compared to 1 in 7 (14%) who think it has made Europe weaker, according to a survey.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A total of 53 percent of people across 25 countries worldwide believe that the establishment of the European Union has made Europe stronger, while 14 percent think that Europe has become weaker as a result of turning into a united political and economic entity, a survey revealed on Friday.

"Over half (53%) people across the 25 countries worldwide think the European project has made Europe stronger, compared to 1 in 7 (14%) who think it has made Europe weaker. The proportion who think it made Europe stronger is somewhat lower in EU countries (46%) – with people in Belgium, Italy and France being the least positive," the survey by Ipsos Mori said.

According to the survey marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the European Economic Community, the legal basis for today's European Union, a third of respondents believe that in general the European project has had more successes than failures compared to nearly a fifth who think the opposite.

At the same time, 57 percent of respondents believe that the bloc is currently "heading in the wrong direction."

Combating organized crime and terrorism, creating jobs and reducing illegal immigration are among most important priorities for the bloc, according to European respondents.

The survey was carried out among thousands of adults younger than 65 in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.