EU: Most Europeans are in favour of economic globalisation but believe it should be more firmly regulated, according to a Eurobarometer opinion poll published yesterday. An overwhelming majority believes that the US has too much influence on the process of globalisation, while most say that the EU has too little.
Irish people are among the most enthusiastic in Europe about globalisation, with two-thirds of Irish citizens saying that more globalisation would be advantageous for themselves and their families.
Greece is the only EU country with a majority opposed to globalisation. Italy and Ireland show the highest levels of support for the regulation of globalisation, with 70 per cent of Irish citizens saying that it can be effectively controlled and regulated.
Fifty-six per cent of Europeans believe that more regulation of globalisation is needed, a view that is shared by the same proportion of Irish people. Sixty-one per cent of Europeans trust the EU to ensure that globalisation follows the right direction, with Irish respondents among the most confident in EU leadership on the issue.
Despite the high level of support for globalisation, 79 per cent of Europeans believe that "anti-globalisation" movements raise points that deserve to be debated. Sixty-three per cent said that the protests at international meetings had raised their awareness of certain aspects of globalisation.
Only one-third of the respondents believed, however, that the protesters succeeded in influencing national policy makers or slowing down the process of globalisation.
