A poll of German citizens, conducted by German pollsters the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion, for FAZ reveals:
- Trust in the EU has fallen to an all time low: 67% of respondents had "little” or “no trust" in the EU - up from 51% in March 2010. That's 12 points in less than a year... did anyone say bail-out?
- Only 25% have a “high” or “very high" degree of trust in the EU - down from 37% in March 2010.
- Only 12% favour faster integration - this has dramatically decreased since 1982, when a majority of West Germans were in favour of faster EU integration.
- 43% of respondents want slower integration.
- And the killer: 68% of respondents have “little” or “no trust” in the single currency – this is similar to poll levels taken on the eve of the euro’s birth, 16 years ago.
- Last but not least, only 4% know who Herman Van Rompuy is (shocker!).
In this context it is important to keep in mind that all major policy decisions concerning European integration in the last 20 years were pushed through against the will of the German people: the introduction of the euro, the accession of new Central and Eastern Europe member states, and the opening of accession negotiations with Turkey – all these were rejected by the Germans with very strong majorities.Does anyone see a slight problem here?
"Only 4% of Germans know who the hell Herman van Rompuy is." If Nigel Farage had not made his well publicised "wet rag" tirade against Rompuy, that figure would have been down to 0%! Farage's "free EU publicity" earned him a rebuke by the President of the EU Parliament, instead of praise. It's a funny old place, euro-la-la land.
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