Public opinion on whether the European Parliament is positive or negative 2023

The European Parliament is the democratically elected legislative body of the European Union. The first elections for the parliament took place in 1979, with elections taking place every five years since then. The parliament does not have direct legislative powers in the European Union, as it instead votes on legislation originated by the European Commission, the highest bureaucratic body of the EU. This lack of direct legislative power has meant that the parliament has often been criticized as being 'powerless', with this being seen by many as indicative of the EU's 'democratic deficit'. On the other hand, proponents of the EP see it as the foundation for any future federalized European democracy. 

As of 2023, Portugal, Denmark, and Ireland were the three European Union member states where citizens were most positive about the European Parliament. In Ireland, 59 percent of respondents had a positive image of the parliament, with only 8 percent having a negative image. At the other end of the scale were France, Czechia and Slovenia, with citizens in these countries having more negative than positive opinions of the European Parliament, however, in all of these countries the largest group of respondents were those who said they had a neutral image of the EP. On average, EU citizens were 41 percent positive, 40 percent neutral, and 18 percent negative about the parliament in 2023.