EU voters want tighter immigration measures

Voters across the European Union want to see stronger borders and tighter rules on controlling irregular migration, a Euronews website survey conducted by Ipsos has revealed.

As the clock ticks down toward the European Parliament elections in June, where the topic of migration is likely to be a key issue, a poll of close to 26,000 respondents in 18 EU member states has revealed the full extent of public feeling over the matter.

The survey showed 51 percent of Europeans have a “negative” assessment of the bloc’s impact on migration policy, while only 16 percent have a “positive” view.

Meanwhile, a reform program known as the New Pact on Migration and Asylum is at the final legislative stage after three years of debate and discussion.

It will bring in a set of consistent rules across the bloc to deal with the arrival and distribution of asylum-seekers, an issue that has become all the more important since it was announced last month that the EU recorded 1.14 million asylum applications last year, the highest number since 2016.

When questioned about irregular migration, 59 percent of respondents said it should be a priority for the EU, ranking it as the fourth-most important topical issue, behind rising prices, social inequality and economic growth, but ahead of climate change or collective defense.

Support for stronger border controls was the majority opinion in all countries surveyed, with 71 percent of respondents wanting to see it as the EU’s main focus of immigration policy over the coming years. Poland and Bulgaria were the two countries with the highest levels of support for this stance at 86 percent and 83 percent, respectively.

When asked if the EU should prioritize a “policy of welcoming immigrants in the name of humanist values”, the two most supportive countries were Spain, with 41 percent, and Italy, with 39 percent. The two southern European countries have found themselves on the front line because of attempted migrant boat crossings across the Mediterranean.

Rise in populism

Populist parties across the EU are tipped to make gains in the summer elections, with many having made migration policy a particular focus of their vote-winning efforts.

Andrew Geddes, director of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, told Euronews that the survey’s results highlighted voter frustration about how migration has been managed.

“It is steadily becoming a more important issue. Its importance is growing and it’s motivating the votes of sections of the electorate,” he said.

“I think fundamentally it boils down to people wanting to see a system that works, that it functions, and that member states can agree with each other.

“But what they see instead is member states disagreeing with each other about what the policy should be and continual disputes about migration.”