Could more EU countries leave the union? 

In light of the forming of anti-EU party “Italexit” in Italy, a survey has been carried out by Redfield and Wilton Strategies to investigate overall support for the European Union. 

The survey asked people from the “big four” member states a series of questions. 

In the responses, Italians were the most likely to say they would support leaving the union if the UK is economically sound in five years time. 

This question got a moderate response from citizens in France and Spain, with 38% and 37%, retrospectively, saying they would support this. 

Germans were the least likely to express support for leaving the EU, with just 30% saying it would be a good idea to leave the bloc. 

In addition, a fairly high number of respondents said the UK would benefit from Brexit in the long-term, even if it suffers in the short-term with economic challenges. 

What is Italexit? 

The Italexit party is modeled on the Brexit party, and it claims that it wants to free Italy “from the cage of the European Union and the single currency.”

The party’s founder, Gianluigi Paragone, who is also a TV journalist, was elected as senator for Five Star Movement in 2018. 

There has been growing skepticism over the EU project in the last few years. In another survey, 34% of Italians said EU membership was having a negative impact on the country. 

Is there still EU support?

Optimistic pro-EU groups point out that, despite some disillusionment with the EU as an institution, overall, there’s still a lot of support out there. 

In other countries, there is strong support for the EU. In Germany, 67% of people responded positively in the survey, with 70% saying they wanted to stay in the euro zone. 

Also, support was still strong in Spain, with 63% saying the EU has positively affected them’ and 47% of respondents in France said the same.