Europeans do not approve of the EU immigration policy

This is one of the eye-catching results from a poll conducted by Ipsos among almost 26,000 respondents in 18 member states ahead of the European Parliament elections, which will be held between June 6 and 9. The first poll of its kind shows that 51% of Europeans have a "negative" assessment of the bloc's influence on migration policy, while only 16% have a "positive" view. Meanwhile, 32% say that the impact was "neither positive nor negative".

The trend cuts across genders, age groups and occupations and is consistent in most countries, with the downside clearly outweighing the other two segments. France (62%), Austria (60%) and Hungary (58%) are the most critical countries, while Denmark (26%), Romania (27%) and Finland (32%) are the most critical countries. The most pronounced variations appear in voting intention: the harshest views come, as expected, from those who support the far-right groups Identify and Democracy (78%) and the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (65%), of followed by the Left (55%), which stands at the opposite end of the spectrum.

Voters of the center-right European People's Party (EPP), which has been accused of embracing far-right talking points for electoral purposes, are prone to censorship, but in a more nuanced way: 46% say negative, 20% say positive and 34% say neither. Those rallying behind the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group are undecided: 33% say negative, 24% say positive and 42% say neither.

Overall, the assessment of the bloc's influence on migration policy is the most pessimistic of the six areas examined in the survey, including responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The results come a month after it was confirmed that the EU had recorded 1.14 million asylum applications in 2023, the highest figure since 2016. The increase, steady since the end of lockdown restrictions, has been accompanied by media stories about the premises overcrowded waiting places. such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

The narrative helped inject political momentum into the negotiations for the New Deal on Migration and Asylum, a sweeping reform that introduces common and predictable EU rules to manage the arrival and distribution of asylum seekers. After more than three years, the pact was provisionally approved in December and is now in the final stages of the legislative process. But its effectiveness is still a hypothetical question that will be answered only in the next term.

The European Commission has already said it would not hesitate to use legal action against countries that do not comply with the strengthened rules. Dissatisfaction with the EU's migration policy translates into an overarching demand to strengthen border controls to combat irregular migration: 71% of survey respondents agree that this should be the main focus in the coming years.

Poland (86%), Bulgaria (83%) and Finland (83%) register the highest level of support for this course of action, which is a majority opinion in all the countries surveyed. In contrast, 28% of Europeans say the bloc should instead prioritize a "policy of welcoming immigrants in the name of humanist values". In particular, two front-line countries in Southern Europe, Spain (41%) and Italy (39%), are most in favor of this approach.

In Denmark, where Mette Frederiksen's left-wing government is pursuing a "zero asylum" policy, a third of respondents (34%) choose support for welcoming immigrants. Likely voters of conservative and liberal parties are most likely to call for stronger border controls: 91% of ID, 89% of ECR, 81% of EPP and 72% of Reneë Europe. Those who support the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group are split between stronger border controls (57%) and humanist values ??(43%), while supporters of the Greens (66%) and the Left (63%) lean strongly towards the latter.

But when we look at gender, age groups and occupations, the numbers leave no doubt about the preferred option: strengthening border controls. Hardened attitudes suggest concerns about migration will remain high as citizens cast their ballots in June. In fact, 59% of respondents say the EU should make the fight against irregular migration a priority, making it the fourth most important topic on the agenda after rising prices, social inequalities and economic growth, and ahead of unemployment , climate change, collective defense and aid to Ukraine.

Moreover, 29% say that the fight against irregular migration should be "important, but not a priority". Only 12% come to the conclusion that it should be "secondary". Finland is the only member state in the survey where more people (49%) choose the option "important, but not a priority". In all other countries, respondents firmly place migration control in the "priority" category.

Commenting on the results, Andreë Geddes, director of the Migration Policy Center at the European University Institute (EUI), said that concerns about migration have been nurtured and politicized by far-right parties, such as Alternative für Deutschland (Germany), Rassemblement. National (France), Party for Freedom (Netherlands) and Chega (Portugal), which have seen a rise in opinion polls.