According to results of a new survey commissioned by the European Parliament, on average Belgians are more pessimistic about the future of the world than the people in the EU as a whole. Almost two-thirds (65%) of people in Belgium that took part in the survey said that they feel fairly or very pessimistic. This compares with a figure of 52% for the EU as a whole.
The Eurobarometer poll shows that Europeans are most concerned about security issues. The biggest concerns among people in the 27 EU member states are current conflicts (72%), terrorism (67%), an increase the number and severity of natural disasters linked to climate change (66%), cyberattacks (66%) and what is described by those that took part in the survey as “uncontrolled” migration.
Almost 90% of respondents said that the EU should act more as one in response to such global threats. 86% say that the European Union should speak out more firmly and 73% want the EU to invest more to address the issues listed above.
Defence and security
In the EU as a whole 40% of those surveyed say that the European Union should focus on defence and security, 32% say that competitiveness, the economy and industry should be the top priority, while 29% say that the EU needs to focus on energy independence. Meanwhile, respondents in Belgium also placed strong emphasis on education and research.
Concerns about the economy remain great. After France, Belgium and Slovakia are the countries where the greatest number of people expect their standard of living to fall. In Belgium 40% of respon dents expect this to be the case.
In the EU as a whole around half of those surveyed have a positive view of the European Union. In Belgium this is 46%. 22% of Belgian respondents have a negative view of the European Union. The number of Belgians with a positive view of the EU has fallen slightly compared with the previous Eurobarometer survey. The number of people with a negative view has increased.
The Eurobarometer survey was carried out by Verian between 6 and 30 November 2025. More than 26,000 in the 27 EU countries took part.