'Please don’t go! Why Germany needs the British'
As Britons decide whether to back the Remain or Leave camp in the European Union referendum, Europeans across the continent are also pondering the potential consequences of a Brexit vote.
Here The Independent takes a look at some of the specific questions that are among the top Google searches from people living across the EU:
Germany: 'Would Brexit be bad for London’s financial centre?’
Besides the typical ‘what is Brexit?’ query – common across the vast majority of the EU – Germans are particularly concerned about whether a Brexit vote "would be bad for London’s financial centre".
Earlier in June the German Chancellor Angela Merkel broke her self-imposed vow of silence on the EU referendum to say she hopes the UK will vote to remain "for the benefit of all of us". She also appeared to warn that Britain would get a worse deal outside the bloc.
In a special edition of this week’s Der Spiegel, an influential news magazine in Germany, the cover headline declared: "Please don’t go! Why Germany needs the British". The editorial said: "The only internationally known politician in favour of a Brexit…is Donald Trump - and, if nothing else does, that alone should make the British worry".
A survey for the magazine from polling firm TNS found that 79 per cent of Germans wanted Britain to remain a member of the EU. It added that half of the respondents believed Brexit would have no negative impact on the German economy while 36 per cent thought the economic situation would deteriorate.
Poland: ‘How would Brexit affect Poles in the UK’
Poles are searching for more specific areas of interest such as: "what will happen to the British pound if there is a Brexit" and "how would Brexit affect Poles in the UK?"
At the last count, the Office for National Statistics concluded that there around three million citizens of other European countries residing in the UK – or, around five per cent of the population in Britain. Poles make up by far the biggest group within the overarching figure, with some 800,000 living here. Predictably, perhaps, many are likely to be fearful of what the future holds if Britons vote for Brexit.
Spain – ‘How would Gibraltar be affected by Brexit?’
In Spain the second most popular search – after "what is Brexit?" – concerns the British overseas territory on the south coast of Spain – Gibraltar. In May Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, warned Leave campaigners that they risk sacrificing the territory to the "spectre" of a Spanish soveirgnity grab.
"If you care about Gibraltar, if you believe that Gibraltar should remain British, then you have to vote for the UK to stay in the EU so that we don’t face a challenge to our sovereignty within four days of the referendum result," he told the London Evening Standard.
"We fought so hard to push off the spectre of Spanish sovereignty, or even joint sovereignty, and we would in effect be put in a situation where we are giving Spain the excuse to table it again."
Romania: ‘What will Romania lose with Brexit?’
More than 170,000 Romanians currently reside in Britain, so it is no surprise they are pondering the effects of a potential Brexit. As Romanian expats - like other European expats in the UK - send home a considerable amount of money, people in the country are likely worried that a Brexit vote could restrict the rights of Romanians to work in the UK.
Speaking about a potential Brexit, the Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos said in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde: "The Brits will decide what is best for them and I’m sure they will do so in a rational way, taking into account what they stand to lose in this perspective". He added that, like other member states, Romania is concerned the economic impact of Brexit.
It is expected that the country’s exports to the UK could also be severely affected. Britain is the fifth most important destination for Romanian exports – with a four per cent share of the total or equivalent to €2.3 billion.
Croatia: 'Is the Queen supporting Brexit?'
Croatia joined the EU just three years ago by a large majority so are likely to be mystified as why Britain wants to exit. One of Croatian’s most popular searches relates to what their government is advocating in terms of the European referendum.
But, interestingly, Croatians also seem to value Queen Elizabeth II’s input. "Is the Queen supporting Brexit?" is the country’s fifth most searched question in relation to the EU referendum. Close followers of Britain’s monarch will know she never makes public interventions in matters concerning politics.
"The Queen remains politically neutral, as she has for 63 years," is a common phrase oft repeated by Buckingham Palace. So Croatians were likely to be interested in the front page of the Sun earlier this year which declared that the "Queen backs Brexit".
She was reported to have "let rip" at the then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg during a lunch at Windsor Castle, where she is said to have informed him of her belief that the European project was heading the wrong direction.
