Eurobarometer 78.2 (2012)

Since the early 1970s the European Commission´s Standard & Special Eurobarometer are regularly monitoring the public opinion in the European Union member countries. Principal investigators are the Directorate-General Communication and on occasion other departments of the European Commission or the European Parliament. Over time, candidate and accession countries were included in the Standard Eurobarometer Series. Selected questions or modules may not have been surveyed in each sample. Please consult the basic questionnaire for more information on country filter instructions or other questionnaire routing filters. In this study the following modules are included: 1. Parlemeter, 2. Future of Europe, 3. Consumer behaviour in the EU.<br>1. Parlemeter: reception of information about the European Parliament in the media; assessment of the European Parliament as dynamic, democratic, citizen-friendly, not well known, inefficient; general image of the European Parliament; knowledge test: the EU-parliamentarians’ seating arrangement in the European Parliament according to their nationality or their political attitude; decisions of the European Parliament in relation to the interests of the Member States or in accordance with the EU-parliamentarians’ political attitude; assessment of the role of the European Parliament for the functioning of the European Union; assessment of the development of the European Parliament within the EU in the last 10 years; desire for more or less influence of the European Parliament; issues, which the European Parliament should primarily pursue (the EU´s common foreign policy, effective security and defence against international crises, combating climate change, common energy policy to guarantee the energy independence of the EU, improving consumer protection and health care, environmentally friendly and balanced food agricultural policy, combating terrorism, respecting individual freedoms, coordination of economic, budgetary and tax policy, research and development policies which guarantee competitiveness and innovation, enforcement of a European social model, combating poverty and social exclusion, immigration policy in consultation with the countries of origin; values which should be primarily defend by the European Parliament (equality between men and women, protection of minorities, dialogue between cultures and religions, solidarity between the EU Member States, solidarity between the EU and poor countries, protection of human rights, freedom of opinion, general abolition of the death penalty); desire for further information on selected topics of Europe; used sources of information about the European Parliament; interest in European affairs; knowledge of competences of the European Parliament in selected areas would lead to more interest in the European Parliament and the European elections (EU spending including direct agricultural taxes and financing infrastructure and merger projects on regional level food safety and genetically modified food on the European internal market, environmental protection, consumer protection and measures on climate change, compliance with EU data protection rules, free movement of persons); media consumption: often received television stations, radio stations, newspapers, social networks and websites.

2. Future of Europe: happy in the own country and in the EU; expected changes for the life of the future generation in comparison to one´s own; expect changes for the life of the Europeans in 2030 compared to today; comparison of the EU with the United States, Japan, China, India and Brazil in terms on: quality of life, the political influence of current and future performance of the economy; expectation of the EU as leading diplomatic power in 2030; best embodiment of selected values by the EU,other countries, or both (social equality, cultural peace, progress and innovation, diversity, freedom of opinion, tolerance, respect for history); positive achievements of the EU; most important advantages of the EU; most important social values with regard to global challenges; biggest challenges of the EU in regard to their sustainability; most important political tasks for the future of Europe; preference for more decisions on European level in selected areas; excessive interference of the State; free competition as a guarantor of economic prosperity; preferred radicalness of social reforms (step by step versus fast and if necessary radical measures); expected and preferred future direction of the society in the EU on solidarity and individualism; identification as a citizen, citizen and European or only as European; decision makers in the EU have the capability to cope with the global challenges; discrepancy between public opinion and political decisions; globalization as possibility for economic growth; opinion on Europe of the two speeds; the own vote counts in the EU and in the own country.

3. Consumer behaviour in the EU: small claims procedures: private purchases of goods or services via the internet by dealers in the last 12 months in the own country, other EU States or worldwide; made purchases in the last 12 months: travel for shopping, shopping during a vacation or business trip; problems when purchasing via
internet, justify one’s complaint; preferred approach in disputes with sellers or providers: claiming arbitration board, clarification before court, direct complaint to the provider or negotiating with the provider; advice from consumer protection organizations or professional associations; result of the last court proceedings; successful implementation of the judgment; number of disputes in the last 12 Months, with a value in dispute of 2,000 euros; readiness to a court procedure or in another EU Member State with a value of less than 2,000 euros and height of the minimum value; willingness for a legal procedure before a court in another EU country, minimum dispute value; free legal advice as an incentive for a judicial clarification at a value of less than 2,000 euros; possible easement , which leads to the
invocation of a national court or a court in another EU Member State (e.g. no attorney required); knowledge of the European procedure for small claims in cross-border disputes and source of information; satisfaction with this procedure; assessment of the competence of the court relating to the procedure; easy-to-complete application form;
help with filling out the application form; representation by a legal representative; reasons against the use of the European procedure for small claims; preferred information sources during disputes with providers in another EU Member State; maximum amount of the dispute that justifies a court procedure.

Demography: nationality; family situation; age at end of education; sex; age; occupation; professional position; degree of urbanization; household composition and household size; own a mobile phone and fixed (landline) phone; possession of durable goods (entertainment electronics, Internet connection, possession of a car, a flat/a house have finished paying for or still paying for; financial difficulties during the last year; self-rated social position (scale); internet use (at home, at work, at school, self-reported belonging to the working class, the middle class or the upper class of society; left-right self-placement.

Also encoded was: date of the interview, time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview, persons present during the interview; respondent cooperation; city size; country code; region; language of the interview (only in Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Malta); weighting factor.