As Ursula von der Leyen prepares for this week’s State of the Union address, a new poll shows Europeans have lost patience with her leadership.
Three-quarters of the respondents to a major new poll said this Commission president has poorly defended European interests. And 60%—including 54% of the poll’s German respondents—said they want the resignation of VDL.
The poll, by Cluster17 for the journal Le Grand Continent, focuses primarily on the EU’s recent trade agreement with the U.S., which von der Leyen hailed as a “huge deal” bringing “stability,” while we at europeanconservative.comsaid that it actually reinforced Europe’s “strategic, energy, and commercial submission to Washington.”
This survey’s respondents not only said that they agreed the deal would mainly benefit the American economy rather than Europe’s (77%), but also that it made them feel humiliated (52%!). Just shy of 40% of those questioned said they believed VDL had “very poorly defended” Europe’s interests, which Le Grand Continent described as “a sign of condemnation of an intensity that appears unprecedented.”
In a major blow to Brussels, 38% of those polled added that they believe leaving the EU should be considered if it were to “fail to effectively protect Europeans against geopolitical and political threats.”
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which represents around 45 million members from 94 trade union organisations across the continent, also slapped down VDL’s outgoing presidency towards the end of last week over what it described as the “stark disconnect” between its priorities and people’s needs.
ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch urged Ursula to “finally announce legislation that improves the lives of working people.” Clearly, voters won’t be holding their breaths.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
