FILE PHOTO: European Union flags fly outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - With EU elections coming up in June, a survey commissioned by the European Parliament showed more than 70% of EU citizens believe they benefit from their country's membership in the European Union.
Respondents cited reasons such as the EU maintains peace and improves cooperation between countries, the survey showed.
"The image of the EU has remained stable since March 2023, with 45% of EU citizens having a positive image of the bloc, 38% have a neutral image and 16% have a negative image," according to the report released on Wednesday.
Data from the survey showed that there was greater interest in voting in the EU elections next year, with 68% of people likely to vote, up 9 percentage points from five years ago.
"More citizens are interested in the 2024 European elections, or say they would vote in the elections now than in 2018," it said.
However, the economic mood was low with the majority of Europeans expecting their standard of living to fall next year.
Recent elections, such as in the Netherlands, have shown the far-right is gaining ground in Europe by stirring anger at the cost-of-living crisis and using anti-immigration rhetoric among other tactics.
The far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group is now the sixth-largest in the EU parliament, behind liberal, green and conservative groups, but current polling data would place it in fourth position.
(Reporting by Julia Payne; editing by Christina Fincher)
