LONDON -- The European Union's image remains strong among its member states, with residents across the bloc rating its leadership higher than those of Germany, the United States and even their own countries.
Gallup’s latest data show that in 2024, no EU member state preferred their own or Washington’s leadership over Brussels, and only one preferred Berlin’s leadership. The leadership of the EU enjoyed a median approval rating of 62%, significantly higher than the 53% rating for Germany, 35% for the United States and 46% for their own country.
Strong approval for the EU among its residents may give Brussels confidence in taking a more assertive role in global affairs, coordinating responses to conflicts like Ukraine, and strengthening Europe's defenses in 2025 and beyond. The growing sense of unity in public opinion within the EU may also help reinforce its position on the world stage as a counterbalance to shifting geopolitical dynamics.
The EU’s leadership has not always enjoyed this level of relative popularity. In 2010, people across the EU expressed similar approval toward the EU (47%), the U.S. (49%) and Germany (53%). But beginning in 2012 (when a median of 40% approved of the EU), approval toward Brussels climbed steadily, and it has remained at 60% or higher since 2019.
At the time of the 2024 surveys, Olaf Scholz was chancellor of Germany, and Joe Biden was president of the United States. While the EU lacks a single leader, arguably the most prominent is European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who took office in 2019 and began her second term last year.
In contrast to the EU’s gradually improving popularity across member states, the region’s ratings of other leaders haven’t enjoyed the same long-term increases.
- Over the past decade and a half, Germany’s leadership image across the EU has ranged narrowly between 50% and 61%, including in the last year of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s tenure. Its ratings have been in decline since Merkel left office.
- Views of U.S. leadership have fluctuated substantially from administration to administration. Under former President Barack Obama, median approval of Washington across the EU closely tracked with approval of Brussels, before diverging during President Donald Trump’s first term. While U.S. approval rebounded somewhat under President Joe Biden, the Brussels-Washington approval gap remained a yawning 27 percentage points last year (before Trump’s return to the White House this year).
- Approval of national leadership across EU member states has also risen gradually over the past 15 years. It now stands at 46%, 10 points above the median in 2010 and notably higher than the median approval rating of U.S. leadership. However, this has consistently trailed residents’ approval of Germany’s and Brussels’ leadership and has not risen as much as the latter since 2010.
No EU Members Prefer Own Leadership or Washington’s to Brussels’
For most of the past decade, the EU’s leadership has consistently earned majority approval ratings from its member states. But in 2024, this support reached a milestone: No EU country expressed higher approval of its national leadership, or of Washington, than it did for Brussels.
In the decade before the pandemic, countries such as Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands typically rated their own leadership higher than that of Brussels by at least six points. However, last year, 22 out of 26 EU countries preferred Brussels over their national leadership, with the remaining four countries -- Ireland, Germany, Denmark and Slovakia -- showing equal approval for both.
Among this latter group, Slovakia has taken a strong stance on the Ukraine war. After a tense meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, Prime Minister Robert Fico vowed to provide no further military or financial aid to Ukraine. Yet, at last week’s EU summit, Fico supported a resolution on Ukraine’s defense, leaving only Hungary’s Viktor Orban opposed. Last year, 35% of Hungarians approved of their leadership, while 44% favored Brussels.
For the past two years, all EU member states -- except Poland, in which approval was tied -- have preferred Brussels over Washington. Approval of U.S. leadership within the EU shifted during Trump’s first year in office in 2017. In 2016, leadership ratings were about evenly split, with 10 EU nations favoring the EU and nine favoring the U.S. (and eight tied). But every year since, no more than one EU country has viewed Washington more favorably than Brussels.
Approval of the EU compared with Germany has shifted noticeably over the past 15 years. While no EU member state favored the EU over Germany in 2012-2013, the reverse was true by 2024. Only the Netherlands still prefers Berlin over Brussels, while 14 countries favor the EU and 10 are tied. This suggests that people evaluate EU leadership separately from the national leadership of Germany -- one of its main powers.
Bottom Line
Last year marked a unique point in Gallup’s trends: the EU has never been rated more strongly by its member states, relative to Germany, the U.S., or national leaders within the bloc. This preceded what has so far been a turbulent 2025, as established norms and alliances are being tested across the Atlantic in how the U.S. is seeking to end ongoing military wars while beginning new trade ones.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, recently stated that “the free world needs a new leader,” and that it was up to Europeans to take up the mantle. With public confidence in Brussels surpassing approval ratings of Germany and the U.S., the EU may have an opportunity to assert itself as a more cohesive and influential global player in the face of renewed uncertainty.
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