Almost half of Europeans want own referendum on EU membership: Poll

A new poll has showed that about half of Europeans want their own referendum on whether or not to remain in the European Union, as the UK is about to hold such a vote.

According to a survey by Ipsos-MORI, 45 percent of more than 6,000 people surveyed across Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden said they favor a referendum of their own on EU membership.

The poll also revealed that 48 percent of Italians would vote in favor of their country quitting the 28-country bloc if they were given the chance. Forty one percent of the French and 39 percent of Swedes would also support their countries’ exit from the EU.

Only one in five (22 percent) Poles, however, would opt for an exit from the EU if an in/out referendum was conducted.

The revelations, which suggest increasing euro skepticism among EU members, coincided with Europe Day, the day of EU integration and unity, on May 9.

Among other countries, Britain is the one with the most controversy surrounding its membership in the EU.

The country has elicited concessions from the bloc — including exclusion from certain universal EU rules and regulations — in order to remain in the bloc as part of a deal negotiated by British Prime Minister David Cameron — a staunch supporter of continued British membership in the EU.

The agreement will automatically go into effect if the British people vote to stay in the EU in a referendum scheduled for June 23.

Cameron has campaigned aggressively to convince his people to vote in favor of staying in the EU in the June vote.

Some 48 percent of the respondents to the Ipsos-MORI survey said that if Britain exits the EU, other countries will follow.

EA