Survey reveals EU 'irrelevant' to majority of citizens

A survey by Brussels-based think-tank Friends of Europe revealed on Friday that majority of European citizens believe the 28-member bloc “will remain irrelevant" for them without reforms.

According to the survey, which was conducted as part of its #EuropeMatters project, 64 percent of Europeans are not convinced their life would be worse without the EU, while 49 percent of the citizens think the EU is irrelevant.

"More than one third of Europeans want more transparency when it comes to how the EU is spending money," the survey noted.

Underscoring that the Europeans "want to have a bigger say", the survey revealed that Europeans are divided on the primary role of the bloc as “40 percent of citizens in Visegrad and Southern European countries think the EU's main focus should be to improve economic growth."

"32 percent of Nordics, 36 percent of the French and 37 percent of the Germans want the EU to promote values and democracy across Europe," it added.