British, French and German voters support the creation of a European army, an international poll has found.
Sentiment across Europe has hardened in response to President Trump’s lukewarm remarks about Nato, the survey of more than 8,000 voters in the UK, US, France and Germany suggests.
In the UK and Germany, 59 per cent of voters favour a European army, according to the poll by Public First and Stonehaven, a consultancy. In France, 50 per cent of adults would like European countries to pool their military strength, compared with 11 per cent who are opposed.
Trump has criticised American military involvement in Europe and has pressured Nato allies to raise their defence spending. He has emphasised the need for the US to deter China and said there was a “big, beautiful ocean” separating North America from Europe.
• Niall Ferguson: Does Donald Trump know what he’s doing on China?
Mark Rutte, the general secretary of Nato, said on Friday that Trump’s tariffs on the European Union and the UK did not violate Nato’s founding charter and said the trade dispute was “separate” from the work of the defensive alliance.
“We should keep them separate and should not let them interfere in our discussions,” he said. He added that Russia remained the “greatest threat” to Nato and the “ball is in the Russian court” on a ceasefire deal in Ukraine.
Britain and France will chair another meeting of the “coalition of the willing” at Nato headquarters in Brussels next week. The summit will be followed by a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, chaired by Britain and Germany. It will be the first such meeting not attended by a US defence secretary.
Despite Trump questioning the volume of US military aid given to Ukraine, 43 per cent of American voters believe the US should keep sending weapons to Kyiv, versus 30 per cent who think the support should stop. Twice as many US voters believe Trump risks worsening the conflict with his approach to Ukraine than those who think he is improving the chance of peace.
American voters do, however, support Trump’s plans for a smaller US military presence in Europe, the poll shows. Forty-one per cent of Americans believe that US military aid to Europe should be reduced, compared with 21 per cent who oppose any reduction.
Despite Trump’s threats, Americans still feel a sense of goodwill towards their European allies. Sixty-eight per cent consider the UK a reliable ally and 42 per cent believe Britain would militarily defend the US if it came under attack — the most of any country.
In Europe, the threat posed by Russia and the growing isolationism of the US appear to have convinced British, French and German voters that the time has come to create a European army.
President Macron has long campaigned for greater co-operation between European militaries. On the centenary of the end of the First World War, the French president called for the creation of a “true, European army”.
Traditionally, there has been deep scepticism in the UK about a European army and it is not clear how such a force would be organised since Britain is no longer a member of the EU. However, the polling shows that even Eurosceptic voters in the UK now favour greater military integration. Forty-eight per cent of Reform UK voters support the creation of a European army.
The study suggests that British voters feel more comfortable buying European weapons than American. Confronted with a choice between European weapons that are more expensive and take longer to arrive or US arms that are cheaper and can be delivered more quickly, 44 per cent of voters favoured buying the European weapons compared with 34 per cent who opted for the American ones.
“It is clear that America feels an increasingly shaky ally to many citizens of western Europe,” said Peter Lyburn, the chair of Stonehaven and Public First. “As such, governments and industry have political support to create a defence capability and a complementary industrial strategy. This is not without challenges though.
“The public might like the idea of a beefed-up and more unified European defence policy but our research also shows that they’re resistant to the idea if paying for it — especially at the expense of other public services — and are not yet convinced by careers or investments in defence.”
While there was significant support in France and Germany for the reintroduction of conscription — 59 per cent of French adults and 60 per cent of Germans were in favour — there was less enthusiasm in the UK. Only 43 per cent of British adults supported a return to conscription.
In the UK, 82 per cent of voters thought the government should increase spending on healthcare compared with 57 per cent who supported rising defence spending.
