A survey on EU citizens’ views about the possible enlargement of the organisation to Ukraine and the Western Balkans countries shows a clear majority in favour of more countries joining, with 69% of Dutch respondents backing the move.

Among people surveyed in the Netherlands, 62% believe the country would benefit from the accession of candidate countries, although only 32% would see this as a personal benefit.

The special Eurobarometer survey published by the European Commission this week shows that young Europeans are especially favourable towards EU enlargement, with around two-thirds of respondents aged 15 to 39 expressing their support.

Dutch respondents associate benefits of EU expansion with better defence against foreign influence (52%), stronger influence in the world (51%) and a larger market for businesses (40%).

At the same time, there were concerns about the ability to make decisions at the EU level (61%), followed by regional disparities, corruption and costs for European taxpayers (36%).

Uncontrolled immigration was seen as a concern by 29% of Dutch respondents as opposed to 40% across the EU. Some 30% of participants in the Netherlands also feared an ‘erosion of European values’.

As regards candidate countries, more than 60% of Dutch respondents are in favour of Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia joining the bloc. Some 59% support Albania and Kosovo’s accession, followed by Moldova, Serbia and Georgia. For Turkey, however, support only reached 39%.

According to a separate Eurobarometer survey,  90% of the Dutch said EU countries should be more united to deal with current global challenges, and 73% believe the European Union should have more means to that end.

Positive views

Overall, 60% of people Netherlands have positive views of EU membership and 78% believe the country has benefited. Across the bloc, 52% of respondents were positive about EU membership.

The main positive aspects of EU membership are seen as peace and security (37%) and better cooperation among Member States (36%).

To reinforce its position in the world, Dutch respondents said the EU should focus on defence and security, protecting democracy and human rights, energy independence, climate action, technology and innovation – including AI – and the economy.