Fairly divided on trade issues
Public opinion in the EU tends to be fairly divided on trade issues with a slight
majority in favour of openness. For example, a recent pan-European poll by
Bertelsmann showed 55% with favourable views on globalisation compared to
45% seeing it as a threat.
Similarly, the regular Eurobarometer survey suggests
that more Europeans see globalisation positive (48%) than negative (40%) ‒
which is about the same as a decade ago (46 and 39% in 2007).
Associations with “free trade” are also mostly positive on average. On specific issues like
trade agreements, (evidence on) public opinion is rather selective and arguably
a number of other issues may come into play when judging the potential effects
of individual accords (which polls most of the time do not allow to really discern).
EU Forecast
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