In just two days, more than 46 million U.K. voters will head to the polls to decide whether or not this so-called Brexit will finally happen. The referendum has put European citizens on edge as they await the outcome, especially given that most of them don’t want to see the Brits leave.
According to a Europe-wide survey conducted by the German-based Bertelsmann Foundation, 54% of EU citizens want the U.K. to remain in the EU, even if support varies from country to country.
“While Spain and Poland are two countries most heavily in favor of the U.K. remaining (64 and 61 percent), only a slight majority of citizens in Italy and Germany are supporting that (55 and 54 percent),” they wrote. “It is the French, who can most clearly envisage an EU without their British neighbors: Here only 41 percent want the British to stay.”
About 45% believe that a Brexit would have negative economic implications for the EU and 26% went as far as to say that a UK-free EU would weaken the community’s power.
Would a Brexit ignite a domino effect with other EU nations?
Not quite. According to the survey results, supporters of the EU outweighed its opponents. “In Spain, Poland and Germany it is very clear (74, 66 and 62 percent). In contrast in France and Italy, EU critics only 54 and 52 percent would vote in favor of the EU membership.”
One interesting finding was that two-thirds of EU citizens surveyed said they don’t really expect a Brexit to have an impact on their country. However, when looking at Standard & Poor’s Brexit Sensitivity Index, which measures foreign direct investment and exports to the U.K. as well as migrant flows, some countries may be at risk.
According to the Standard & Poor’s report released earlier this month, Ireland is the country that has the most to lose if U.K. voters decide to part ways with the EU.
Frank Gill & Aarti Sakhuja, credit analysts for S&P, noted that Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Switzerland are in the “frontline economies susceptible to any trade and migratory aftershocks from a decision by the U.K.”
The least vulnerable countries include Hungary, Italy and Austria, the report showed.
Enough serious talk for a second, here's what one Brit has to say about all this Brexit talk:
Image credit: The Guardian, The Spectator
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