Negative opinions of the European Union among citizens in 2023

As of 2023, the most common negative opinion of the European Union given by citizens was that it does not allow for enough control of international borders regarding migration, with 23 percent of respondents agreeing with this statement. In a close second, 22 percent of respondents said that the EU was bureaucratic, while 19 percent said that the union was a waste of money.

There was significant variation between the member states of the EU in their responses, as 47 percent of Austrians responded that the EU doesn't allow for enough control of borders, while only 12 percent of Irish, Lithuanian, and Finnish respondents thought so. While in most countries, lack of control of borders was the most common negative reason cited, in Sweden and Finland a much larger share of respondents cited bureaucracy as a problem, with 38 and 36 percent respectively. Similarly, in France, a much larger percentage of respondents cited the EU being a waste of money than other problems.