New polling in Der Spiegel has found the image of the EU to have fallen amongst the overwhelming majority of the German public. When asked “Has your image of the European Union improved or worsened through the procurement of the corona vaccine?” 42% say their view has “clearly deteriorated”. A further 22% said their view of the organisation has “tended to get worse”. Just 6% say their view of the organisation has improved.

The survey, which asked a representative sample of 5,020 Germans from 9th to 11th February this year, also found that 68% had a lower view of Ursula von der Leyen – 18% “tended to get worse” and a full 50% “clearly deteriorated”. The Spiegel editorial interestingly noted that heightened disapproval of the EU in general came from all parties:

“The criticism of the EU comes from all political camps. Even among supporters of the Union, the SPD, the Greens and the Left, more than half said that their image of the European Union had deteriorated. The proportion was even greater for supporters of other parties.”

Poor little EU wallowing in the wake of the UK speedboat…