Euroscepticism: attitudes towards the EU among citizens by political ideology in 2023

Euroscepticism, or opposition to the EU and European integration, tends to be stronger towards the extremes of the political spectrum and weaker towards its center. As of 2023, the political position which was most Eurosceptic was the far-right, with prominent parties such as Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France, the AfD in Germany, Law & Justice (PiS) in Poland, and the governing parties in Italy (Brothers of Italy) and Hugary (Fidesz) representing these tendencies. The right in Europe tends to be nationalistic, supporting the maintenance of distinct national identities, and therefore is often opposed to the idea of European federalism (or the creation of a common European political system). The EU is also seen by many on the right as promoting liberal values, such as promotion of women's, LGBTQ+, and minority rights, which they see as opposing traditional societal structures in Europe based on patriarchy, Christianity, and mono-culturalism. 

While the far-left is the third most negative group about the EU after the far-right and right, half of the far-left respondent were positive about the EU, the second highest of all the groups. For all groups across the political spectrum, those who were positive about the EU outnumbered those who were negative. This trend of neutrality or positivity towards the EU reflects the trend of declining Euroscepticism in recent years. Most recently, the public has come to see external threats to the EU, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as more important than internal EU issues, such as the fiscal problems or the democratic deficit.