A new poll has revealed some scepticism among Belgians that the country will be able to "change things for the better in Europe" during the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, starting on 1 January 2024.
After Friday's launch of the presidency, a new poll has poured cold water on the expectation of Belgian citizens of the EU presidency between 1 January - 30 June 2024. The priorities were announced by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib under the slogan: protect, strengthen, prepare.
A study conducted by Cevipol, the Institute for European Studies, ULB and published in Le Soir, has shown that only 15.7% of Belgians believe the country can play a meaningful role during its rotating presidency. For the same question, 10% were positive, while 53.6% said that it would be "neither", and 20% said they had no opinion.
"A presidency with little visibility and few expectations," summarised François Foret, President of the Institute for European Studies to Le Soir.
The poll has revealed Belgian citizens' awareness of EU politics. Only a small majority (53.1%) answered correctly to the question of whether Belgium or Spain would take over the Presidency in the first half of the year, but a third "don't know or prefer not to answer.”
When asked if the respondents had confidence in the institutions, the answer "yes" was given by 35.4% for the national government, 37.6% for the national parliament and 44.4% for the European Union.
On this, Foret pointed out that the scepticism found among Belgians towards the European Union is merely reflected in their scepticism towards national institutions.
However, an EU-led poll last week pointed to a very different picture of Belgians and their relationship with the EU. According to Eurobarometer, 72% of polled Belgians believe the European Union has an impact in their daily life, while 70% of Belgians believe EU membership is a "good thing".
De Croo stressed at Friday’s press conference that the role of the rotating EU presidency is to be a "facilitator" and not "the leader of the EU." The Presidency's website and new logo were also launched.
The survey was conducted online by Ivox-Billendi on a representative panel of 1,000 people between 28 November and 1 December, with a maximum margin of error of 3.2%.
