Just 15 percent of the German public have a favourable opinion of the gaffe-prone European Commission president, a survey by the Allensbach Institute revealed. Leading the EU’s disastrous handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its ever stumbling vaccine rollout contributed to the Eurocrat’s awful image.
And more concerning still to the unapologetic europhile, the poll revealed that the pandemic is fuelling growing Euroscepticism in the country.
In total 64 percent of people quizzed had more faith in Germany’s federal government than the EU when it came to ordering vaccines.
Germany and the EU as a whole have lagged far behind the UK, which utilised Brexit to order millions of does and get its economy moving months ahead of its European neighbours.
Meanwhile, Mrs von der Leyen convinced other European leaders, including Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, to adopt an EU-wide policy to avoid so-called “vaccine nationalism”.
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EU sources say Chancellor Angela Merkel and other EU leaders have lobbied Brussels to back down from its threat.
Belgium, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands have joined the alliance of EU nations against allowing the Commission to use its draconian vaccine powers.
Insiders have made clear that the countries want the text to ensure there is no formal endorsement for Mrs von der Leyen’s plans.
One senior diplomat said: “Having the stick should be enough. We don’t want to use the stick because this will lead to a lose-lose situation.
“Things should not go sour. That’s the worst thing that could occur. Let’s get back to what we’re all looking for, which is vaccinating our people.”
While there is an increasing amount of ill will at the EU’s failure, it appears that as a whole, Germans still back being a member of the bloc.
It said that they “differentiate very precisely between the (still indisputable) advantages of integration and the current mismanagement of the EU in the corona crisis”.
“That is progress in principle, because it does not throw the baby out with the bathwater, as many of the new European nationalists do,” it added.
“However, this also means that the EU institutions have to do much better.
“In 2021 it is no longer enough for something to be decided in the spirit of (former EU chiefs Robert) Schuman or (Jacques) Delors, especially not in a pandemic.
“The Commission and its leadership in particular must deliver good results, because they come closest to a government in the complicated system of the EU.”
The survey, for German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, found 34 percent of people believed they have more advantages because of the EU.
This compares with 24 percent who believe it does not benefit their country.
Major advantages of membership are listed as free trade and the freedom to travel.
But many are turned off by the EU’s famous red tape, its love of regulation and joint liability for debts, it said.
The survey questioned 1,050 people between April 6 and 15.
Additional reporting Monika Pallenberg