Eurobarometer 56.2 (Oct-Nov 2001)

The major topics are:
1. Political attitudes and questions on the European Union,
2. The Euro,
3. EU enlargement,
4. Internet use,
5. Radioactive waste,
6. Family and social situation.
Topics:
1. Political attitudes and questions on the European Union:
frequency of political discussions in one´s circle of friends;
personal opinion leadership on political questions;
contentment with life;
expected deterioration or improvement next year regarding
life in general, the economic situation of one´s country,
the financial situation of one´s household,
the situation in the job market of one´s country and
one´s occupational situation;
national identity or identity as a European;
national pride and perceived pride in Europe;
satisfaction with democracy in the country and in Europe;
media usage;
satisfaction with reporting about European topics on national television,
on the radio and in newspapers;
self-assessment of extent to which informed about the EU,
its policies and its institutions (scale);
knowledge about the biggest expenditure budget in the EU;
sources of information used and preferred, channels of information and
information resources regarding the EU, its policies and its institutions;
judgement on membership of the country in the EU;
advantageousness of membership of the country in the EU;
assessment of current pace of integration of Europe and
desired pace of integration;
expected and desired significance of the EU
for daily life of respondent in five years;
knowledge about European institutions and judgement on the importance
of the European Parliament, European Commission, Council of Ministers of the
European Union, European Court of Justice, European Ombudsmann,
European Central Bank, European Accounting Office,
Committee of Regions of the European Union and
Business and Social Committee of the European Union;
trust in these European institutions;
attitude to a common European constitution;
preference for national or European decision-making power
in selected political areas;
attitude to a common currency, common foreign policy and security policy,
EU enlargement, school education about European institutions and
strengthening of knowledge about Europe and the office of the president;
desired priorities in EU policies, such as e.g.
acceptance of new member countries, populism of the EU,
successful introduction of the Euro, fight against poverty, unemployment,
organized crime and drug trade, environmental protection, consumer protection,
reform of EU institutions, securing of peace and
protection of the right to privacy, democratic principles in Europe as well as
increasing the political and diplomatic significance of the EU in the world;
preference for national, European or NATO decision-making power
for European defense policy;
trust in institutions (politics, church, large concerns, the judiciary,
the education system, media, parties, authorities, trade unions, army,
United Nations, charitable organizations, non-governmental organizations);
perceived fear of a world war, a nuclear conflict in Europe,
a conventional war in Europe, the unintentional activation of a nuclear missile,
an accident in a nuclear power plant, dissemination of nuclear, bacteriological
or chemical weapons of mass destruction, ethnic conflicts in Europe,
terrorism, organized crime or an epidemic.
2. The Euro:
self-assessment of extent to which informed about the Euro;
resources used for information about the Euro;
judgement on the introduction of the Euro and
sense of well-being in using the Euro;
attitude to the introduction of the Euro regarding e.g. economic growth,
employment situation, easier price comparison, social polarization,
national identity, European integration, price increase (scale).
3. EU enlargement:
preferred extent of EU enlargement;
candidates to join and countries that should not be accepted;
importance of selected acceptance criteria for candidates to join;
attitude to the pace of EU enlargement;
preference for unamimous or majority vote after EU enlargement;
most important concerns or positive expectations regarding EU enlargement
(securing of peace, costs, loss of significance of one´s country,
unemployment development, decision-making, cultural enrichment, EU reforms);
self-assessment of extent to which informed and
sources of information about EU enlargement.
4. Internet use:
place and frequency of personal Internet use.
5. Radioactive waste:
self-assessment of extent to which informed about the topic of radioactive waste;
trust in scientists, media, EU and nuclear industry as well as
national and international sources of information on the topic;
knowledge test on the topic of radioactive waste;
preference for a permanent nuclear waste disposal site in the producing country
or only in a few European countries;
assumed reasons for disposal of the most dangerous nuclear waste category
not having taken place in Europe;
concerns in case of a permanent nuclear waste disposal site
in the immediate neighborhood of the respondent;
knowledge about how normal radioactive waste is disposed of;
concern about the handling of radioactive waste in one´s country,
in the EU and among the candidates to join the EU;
attitudes to radioactive waste regarding the information policies of the media,
the nuclear industry, the advantages of nuclear power and
the responsibility of this generation for the waste.
6. Family and social situation:
ideal number of children and personally preferred number of children;
age of respondent;
desired number of children at the age of 20 and
fulfillment of the desire for children;
current number of children;
age at birth of first child;
desire for further children.
In Belgium
the following additional questions were posed:
knowledge and importance of the Belgian presidency
of the Council of Ministers of the European Union.
Demography:
nationality;
self-assessment on a left-right continuum;
marital status;
age at end of education;
sex;
age;
occupation;
position in household;
occupation of head of household;
degree of urbanization;
monthly household income.
Also encoded was:
date of interview and time of interview;
length of interview;
number of persons present during interview;
willingness of respondent to cooperate;
city size;
region;
interviewer number;
weighting factor;
possession of a telephone.
In Luxembourg, Belgium and Finland:
interview language.