“Europe has no competences in areas where there is dissatisfaction because Europe does not intervene”

Original text from Rádio Renascença

On 9 May 2024, Rádio Renascença published a piece on the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation’s European Barometer, released one month before the European elections, with comments from Paulo Almeida Sande and Ana Maria Belchior, sociologist, professor at Iscte and coordinator of the Barometer.

Ana Maria Belchior highlights the Portuguese public’s strong support for the European project, but warns of dissatisfaction with the European Union’s action in strategic areas, such as the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. She stresses that discontent is not with democracy itself, but with how it works in practice, with politicians and parties.

She also points out, as one of the most surprising findings, that more than half of respondents could not correctly name a Portuguese MEP.

Read the full article on Renascença.