This question aims to investigate respondents’ opinions on the first of REScEU’s four divides, which separates actors and ideas supporting Europe as a neoliberal and market-enhancing project, from those in favour of correcting market forces in the name of solidarity.

Overall, 61% of the respondents state that the top priority of the Union should be to ensure high levels of social protection for its citizens, while the remaining 39% supports instead fiscal stability and the competitiveness of the EU industry as priorities. Support for the market-correcting side of the divide is predominant in each of the six countries surveyed, but with interesting cross-country variations: Spain is the country in which this view is most widespread (75%), followed, quite surprisingly, by Germany (63%). Perhaps as surprising is that France is last, with 52% of respondents supporting social protection.

Photo Credits CC Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland