The Guardian reported that 66% of citizens across 15 European countries backed the UK rejoining the EU. Support was especially high in the Netherlands and Denmark, at 75% in each. ECFR said its survey was conducted in May 2026 across Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
The same polling also pushes the debate beyond Brexit memory. The Guardian reported that 58% of British respondents favoured closer defensive relations with Europe, compared with 19% who favoured the United States, and that 63% wanted the UK to participate in developing an alternative European nuclear deterrent. Those findings turn the reset into a security story as much as a trade or sovereignty story.
Table: selected ECFR poll findings
| Finding | Reported result | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Citizens across 15 European countries backing UK rejoining the EU | 66% | Guardian, ECFR |
| Support for UK rejoining in the Netherlands | 75% | Guardian |
| Support for UK rejoining in Denmark | 75% | Guardian |
| UK respondents favouring closer defensive relations with Europe | 58% | Guardian, ECFR |
| UK respondents favouring closer defensive relations with the US | 19% | Guardian, ECFR |
| UK respondents supporting participation in an alternative European nuclear deterrent | 63% | Guardian, ECFR |
Source: ECFR survey, May 2026; Guardian reporting.
Polls do not negotiate accession terms. The European Commission's enlargement glossary says candidate countries must satisfy the Copenhagen criteria: stable democratic institutions, a functioning market economy and the ability to take on membership obligations. The Institute for Government's Article 49 explainer says the UK, now a third country under EU law, would have to use that accession route if it wanted to rejoin.
That is where public opinion and party strategy diverge. A softer public mood on both sides of the Channel may make cooperation easier on defence procurement, security coordination and youth mobility. It does not by itself produce a mandate for reopening the full terms of EU membership, still less a guarantee that member states would offer terms resembling Britain's pre-Brexit settlement.