Brexit Aftermath: Will Others Follow Suit?

Looking at the plain numbers of how people perceive the EU in different countries shows that the Brexit might not have been the last vote in favour of a member state exiting the union.

As the below infographic based on data by the Pew Research Center shows, many people in France for example aren’t too fond of the EU either, more even than there were in the UK before the referendum on 23 June 2016. However, there aren’t any plans to hold a popular referendum in France, yet.

This could change after the French general election in May 2017, as there are candidates in favour of holding a referendum. The extreme right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front and the former Socialist minister Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the far left have said that they would hold votes.

Disliking the EU isn’t the only variable, and doesn’t mean a country aspires to leave the EU. Many people in Greece look upon the EU in unfavourable terms. However, it seems very unlikely for Greece to Grexit, even though this was the original term the word Brexit was adapted from.

(The term Grexit however described a situation fundamentally different from the Brexit setup. It was coined when there was talk of Greece being expelled (not voting to leave on its own behalf), not from the political union but from the single currency (Eurozone) amidst a severe fiscal crisis.)