Dec 20 2024 12 mins 4
Things may look bleak for the European Union in the depths of winter, with challenges across the board: the threat of a trade war with the US, weakened political figures in Germany and France, European farmers menacing protests about the Mercosur deal, an uncertain outcome for the conflict in Ukraine, plus budgets being tightened for households and governments across the bloc. But despite or perhaps because of those threats, Europeans' sentiment is on the up: 51 percent of Europeans tend to trust the EU, the highest level since 2007; while 44 percent have a positive image of the bloc, a figure that's stayed more or less constant since 2010. Those figures are according to a recent Eurobarometer poll.
In this debate, we talk about what the European Union gets right, and how it impacts for the better the lives of its citizens. From studying abroad and broadening our horizons, to guaranteeing consumers are protected when it comes to things like travel and food, as well as ensuring EU citizens' data is protected on the World Wide Web, we discuss some of the bloc's successes. Can the EU capitalise on that success? What can it do better? We put those questions to our guests.
Programme prepared by Isabelle Romero, Luke Brown and Perrine Desplats
