Trust in EU increased during pandemic, study finds

European Union flags in front of the Berlaymont Building in Brussels, Belgium. Picture: Getty Images - Credit: Getty Images

A new study has found trust in the European Union has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, while support for national governments fell.

A new survey by Eurofound revealed that trust in the EU rose sharply since April, and is now higher than support for a number of governments around Europe.

Using a scale of 1 to 10, the average trust in the bloc rose from 4.6 in April to 5.1 in July. The average trust in governments dropped from 4.8 to 4.6.

The study found a correlation in the amount of money spent in terms of financial help, with trust “significantly higher among respondents who received financial support during the pandemic than it is among respondents whose request for support was rejected.”

The largest rise in support for the EU was in Italy and Spain, two countries hit hard by the pandemic.

The UK has also seen a big drop in support for the government, with a separate YouGov poll finding only three in ten thinking the pandemic has been handled well.

Figures out last week showed 63% think the pandemic was handled badly by the government, giving a net approval score to a record low of -33.

By contrast the previous record was -22 in August, a far contrast to the +51 at the start of lockdown in late March.