A decade after the Brexit vote, two-thirds of EU citizens support Britain rejoining the European Union, according to polling by the European Council on Foreign Relations. The survey spans 15 EU member states and finds 66 percent of respondents view UK membership as positive or neutral.
The finding extends across party lines. Even voters for far-right and Eurosceptic parties back closer British-EU relations, the poll shows. Support cuts through traditional divides that typically pit pro-integration forces against nationalist movements.
British voters have shifted sharply in the other direction since 2016. Most UK respondents now say Brexit has harmed the issues they prioritize. More striking still, majorities of British voters now express openness to levels of integration previously considered politically impossible, including free movement of people across borders. Such policies proved central to Leave campaign messaging and sparked intense debate during the referendum.
The timing carries weight. The survey arrives as Labour holds power under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has signaled warmer relations with the EU than his Conservative predecessors. The government has pursued closer defense and security cooperation with Brussels, though full EU membership remains off the table. However, the polling suggests public appetite for integration runs deeper than government policy currently reflects.
The ECFR data reveals a reversal in public sentiment on both sides of the Channel. EU citizens have grown more open to British membership after a decade of watching Brexit play out. British voters, meanwhile, confront concrete economic and trade friction that theoretical arguments against EU membership did not capture during the 2016 campaign.
This polling complicates the political landscape for any future government contemplating EU relations. Voter sentiment now favors integration after years of anti-EU rhetoric. Whether that translates into policy remains uncertain, but the ECFR survey documents a fundamental shift in how both British and European publics view the relationship.