Eurobarometer 57.1 (Mar-May 2002)

The major topics are:
1. Standard trend variables,
2. Enlargement of the EU and European Parliament,
3. The Euro.
Topics:
1. Standard trend variables:
interest in politics;
personal opinion leadership;
general contentment with life;
deterioration or improvement regarding personal situation five years ago and
expected deterioration or improvement in five years;
personal fears (accidents in nuclear power plants and with nuclear weapons,
ethnic conflicts, war, terrorism, organized crime, epidemics);
trust in selected institutions (media, legal system, the police, military,
religious institutions, trade unions, political parties, public administration,
large concerns, national government, national parliament, EU, UN,
non-government organizations NGO, charitable or honorary organizations);
interest in information regarding politics, social interests, EU,
business, sport, environment, foreign policy and culture;
assessment of personal extent to which informed about the EU (scale);
used and desired sources of information about the EU as well as
about its policies and its institutions;
general attitude to EU membership of the country;
judgement on advantageousness of EU membership of the country
in general and for the respondent personally;
positive or negative image of the EU;
regret at elimination of the EU;
significance of the EU for personal situation of respondent (peace, prosperity,
social protection, travel freedom, cultural variety, influence in the world,
Euro currency, unemployment, bureaucracy, waste of money,
loss of cultural identity, increase in crime,
inadequate inspection at the external borders);
knowledge of selected European institutions
(European Parliament, European Commission, European Council of Ministers,
Court of Law of the European Community, European Ombudsmann,
European Central Bank, European Accounting Office,
committee of the EU regions, European Convent) as well as
assessment of their trustworthiness and their importance for the EU;
preference for decisions at national level or EU level in the areas of
defense, environmental protection, currency questions,
cooperation with developing countries, public health system, media and
freedom of the press, fight against poverty and social exclusion,
fighting unemployment, agricultural policy and fishery policies,
support of economically weak regions, the education system,
science and research, information about the EU as well as its policies
and institutions, foreign policy, culture policies, immigration policy,
policies on asylum, fight against organized crime, the police, the judiciary,
refugee policies, preventing youth crime and crime in cities, drug policies,
fight against slave trade and exploitation,
fight international terrorism as well as
addressing the problem of an ageing population;
attitude to a common European currency, foreign policy and defense policy;
attitude to enlargement of the EU through acceptance of new member countries;
attitude to responsibility of the EU for affairs
that cannot efficiently be dealt with at national, regional and local level;
attitude to enlargement of the EU;
attitude to a possibility for a majority of the European Parliament
to vote the president and members of the European Commission out of office;
attitude to school instruction about the work of EU institutions;
priorities in EU policies (acceptance of new member countries,
populism of the EU, successful introduction of the Euro,
fight against poverty and social exclusion, environmental protection,
consumer protection, fighting unemployment, reform of EU institutions,
fight against organized crime and drug trade,
strengthening the reputation of the EU in the world,
securing peace and security in Europe,
fight against terrorism, addressing the problem of an ageing population);
self-perception as a European or a citizen of a country;
national pride;
pride to be a European;
trust in the EU and adjectives associated with the EU;
fears in connection with the EU
(economic crisis, increase in drug trade and international organized crime,
increase in unemployment, decrease in social services, national identity and
culture, decisions forced by powerful member countries,
dissolution of one´s country);
approval of introduction of the Euro;
judgement on familiarity with the new money and
judgement on the convenience of the Euro.
2. Enlargement of the EU and European Parliament:
approval of EU enlargement;
preferred new EU member countries;
preference for unamimous or majority decisions in the EU after enlargement;
attitude to EU enlargement and expected implications (scale);
personal extent to which informed about EU enlargement;
preference for an EU constitution;
preference for election of the president of the European Commission
by the heads of state or governments of the EU,
by a majority vote of the European Parliament or by the EU citizens;
attitude to veto rights of member countries in EU decisions;
attitude to the right for the EU to levy taxes;
intent to participate in the election on national and subnational level and
in the election to the European Parliament (scale);
assessment of the effectiveness of the national government, the EU,
the European Parliament and the regional government;
positive or negative comments about the European Parliament;
information about the European Parliament received from the media and
interest in further information.
3. The Euro:
Except in Great Britain, Sweden and Denmark
the following questions were posed:
institutions helpful for the respondent in the introduction of the Euro
(the EU institutions, the government and authorities, social workers,
associations for the aged, handicapped associations, consumer associations,
banks, supermarkets, businesses, media, family or friends);
knowledge about Euro brochures of the EU for handicapped and certain target groups;
orientation on prices in Euro or prices in the national currency;
attitude to dual pricing in Euro and in the old national currency;
judgement on prices in Euro or in the old national currency;
method of conversion (mental arithmetic, calculator, conversion table);
preferred time interval for dual pricing in businesses, on bank statements and on bills;
rough estimate of prices of selected goods of daily need in Euro;
difficulties in recognizing and dealing with the various Euro coins and bills,
in payment with Euro coins and bills, in noting prices in Euro,
in price comparison in Euro and understanding of bills,
salary statements and bank statements;
attitude to national symbols on the Euro coins;
previous contact with Euro coins from other countries;
assessment whether prices in the currency conversion were more likely
rounded up or rounded down;
area of business in which the prices were mostly rounded up or down
(supermarkets, grocery stores, services, cafes and restaurants,
public transportation, leisure activities, bank fees, vending machines);
perceived difficulties in conversion to the Euro
for the population in general and for the respondent personally;
evaluation of the process of introducing Euro coins and bills;
pleasure about the introduction of the Euro;
increased feeling of being a European through the Euro;
liking for the Euro and the old national currency.
Except in Finland, Great Britain, Sweden and Denmark
the following questions were posed:
difficulties in dealing with the various Euro coins;
attitude to elimination of the one and two cent coins.
Except in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Great Britain, Sweden and Denmark
the following questions were posed:
knowledge about the Euro logo in businesses and
increased trust in businesses using this logo as a sign for exact conversion.
Only in Spain
the following questions were posed:
knowledge and significance of the presidency of Spain
in the council of ministers of the EU.
Demography:
nationality;
self-assessment on a left-right continuum;
marital status;
age at end of education;
sex;
age;
occupational position;
position in household;
occupation of head of household;
degree of urbanization;
monthly household income.
Also encoded was:
date of interview and interview time;
length of interview;
number of persons present during the interview;
willingness of respondent to cooperate;
city size;
region;
interviewer number;
possession of a telephone.
In Luxembourg, Belgium and Finland:
interview language.