Citizens of the European Union feel increasingly attached to the union, a new report has suggested, with voters heading to the polls for elections to the European Parliament this week.
The joint study by two German institutions, the Saarland University and the Philipps University of Marburg, showed a clear trend of increasing support for the EU, based off data from 600,000 respondents to the Eurobarometer public opinion survey from across the 27 member states between 1991 and 2023.
In the report, published in the Journal of European Public Policy, the EU citizens rated their attachment to the union on a scale of 1 to 4.
The study demonstrated support has risen for the EU across all generations and age groups. Younger people - sometimes believed to be more supportive of the EU, having benefited from exchange programmes and greater travel opportunities - were not clear outliers.
Major challenges such as the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine strengthened cohesion within the EU, the results suggested, although the euro crisis following the global financial crash did lead to a downturn in attitudes towards the union.
Elections to the European Parliament are being held across the bloc this week.