Eurobarometer 96.1 (2021)

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. Future of Europe, 2. Digital rights and principles.<br>Topics: 1. Future of Europe: best ways to ensure that own voice is being heard by decision-makers at national level; best ways to ensure that own voice is being heard by decision-makers at EU level; preferred persons to discuss the future of the European Union with: family / friends / colleagues, citizens from other EU countries, local or regional politicians, national politicians, European politicians, influencers or activists, members of civil society organisations, other, no interest; attitude towards the following statements: EU citizens’ voice should be more taken into account for decisions relating to the future of Europe, still work to be done to strengthen democracy in the EU, still work to be done to protect democracy in the EU; desire to have more of a say over important decisions affecting: personal local area, own country, European Union; awareness about the Conference on the Future of Europe in the media in recent times; type of media: TV, radio, written press, online media outlets, social media platforms, other; awareness of selected visual elements in the past few months connected to the communication campaign to advertise the Conference on the Future of Europe; applicability of the following statements to the aforementioned visual elements (scale): is appealing and makes people willing to participate in the Conference, shows that the European Union is listening to its citizens; attitude towards selected statements on the Conference on the Future of Europe: represents significant progress for democracy within the EU, will have no real impact; willingness to participate in the activities of the Conference in the following ways: take part in meetings in personal area (e.g., citizens´ debates or assemblies), take part in the aforementioned meetings in another EU member state, take part in online consultations via discussion platforms, answer surveys, being active on online social networks, put forward personal ideas and proposals to European and national politicians, take part in European cultural and sports events linked to the Conference; factors that would encourage personal willingness to take part in the activities of the Conference on the Future of Europe: conviction that personal participation would have a real impact, guarantee to receive regular updates of the outcomes of personal participation, possibility to choose a flexible form of participation, guarantee that personal contribution would remain anonymous, opportunity to talk directly with political representatives involved, involvement of celebrities, representation of all parts of society, other, no interest in such initiative; most important benefits of the younger generation´s involvement in the Conference on the Future of Europe; important topics for the future of Europe: climate change and environment, health, stronger economy and social justice, EU in the world, values / rights / security, digital transformation, European democracy, migration, education / culture / youth / sport, other; main assets of the EU: standard of living, social protection systems in the member states, economic power of the EU, respect for democracy / human rights / rule of law, skills and talents of citizens, quality of infrastructure in the EU, capacity for research and innovation, good relationship and solidarity between the member states, ability to promote peace and democracy outside its borders, commitment to environmental responsibility, capacity to respond to major global health diseases such as the coronavirus pandemic, other, none; main challenges for the EU; main global challenges for the future of the EU; most useful way to make progress on the main global challenges for the future of the EU: all member states working together, progress on individual level of the member states; attitude towards the following statements: EU is a place of stability in a troubled world, globalisation as an opportunity for economic growth, globalisation threatens national identity, EU offers a future perspective for European youth, recognition of people’s interests by national political system; most important issues to be prioritised in order to face major global challenges; embodiment of selected values by the EU compared to other countries: respect for nature and the environment, social equality and solidarity, peace, progress and innovation, freedom of opinion, tolerance and openness, respect for history; most helpful issues with regard to the future of Europe: comparable education standards, energy independence, stronger industrial capacity, introduction of the euro in all EU countries, comparable living standards, common defence and security policy, deeper economic integration, common health policy, stronger solidarity among the member states, common European investments to develop a climate-neutral economy, other, none; preferred level (EU – national; scale) to deal with the following areas most efficiently: migration and refugees, fighting terrorism, employment and social protection, energy policy, environment and climate change, consumer protection, economy and growth, agriculture and fisheries, foreign policy, security and defence policy, health; preferred level (EU – national; scale) to deal with the following areas most efficiently: digital transformation of economy and society, gender equality, taxation, research and development, education and training, protection of minorities; preferred share of decisions taken at EU level in ten years compared with today; personal importance of each of the following objectives: make Europe the world´s first climate-neutral continent by 2050, increase the share of renewable energy in European economy and have greater energy efficiency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote growth of zero- and low-emissions vehicles market in order to cut transport emissions, restore Europe´s forests and soils to increase the absorption of CO2 pollution and make our environment more resilient to climate change, renovate buildings to use more renewable energy and to be more energy efficient; attitude towards selected statements with regard to the impact of tackling climate change: can create new opportunities for innovation / investment / jobs, can help improve personal health and well-being, can harm the economy, can help reduce costs of greater ecological damage in the future; preferred value of society in 2030: solidarity or individualism; preferred value of society in 2030: order or individual freedom; satisfaction with the following issues: family life, current occupation, living in the own country, living in the EU; assessment of the own country’s membership in the EU as a good thing; preferred statement with regard to the European Union: respondent is in favour of the European Union and the way it is working at present, respondent is rather in favour of the European Union but not the way it is working at present, respondent is rather sceptical of the European Union but would be ready to change the opinion if the way it works was really changed, respondent is opposed to the idea of the European Union in general.

2. Digital rights and principles: expected importance of digital tools and internet in personal life by 2030; expected share of advantages and disadvantages of digital tools and internet in personal life in 2030; biggest worries about the increased role of digital tools and internet in society; awareness of the applicability of rights offline as well as online; assessment of the protection of personal rights in online environments by the EU; usefulness of knowing more about personal rights in online environments; usefulness of the European Commission defining and promoting a common European vision on main rights, principles and values that together define the approach of the European Union to digital life; importance of each of the following issues to be included in a list of principles that define the European approach to digital life: access to internet through affordable and high speed connection for everyone, clear information about terms and conditions that apply to the internet connection for everyone, easily accessible and user-friendly digital public services for everyone, need to submit data or information only once when interacting with public administrations, benefit from digital health and care services for everyone, secure access and full control of personal online health records, possibility to use a secure and trustworthy digital identity that can be used to access a broad range of public and private online services; importance of each of the following issues to be included in a list of principles that define the European approach to digital life: possibility to balance the time spent using digital technologies in a remote working and learning environment, promotion of the understanding of digital technologies, protection against the risky or unethical application of digital technologies, protection of children in online environments, address climate change challenges with support of digital technologies, provide information on the impact of digital products and services on the environment in an easy way, limit harmful impact of the production of digital products and services on the environment, protection of people from cybercrime and illegal content and goods in online environments, protection of the confidentiality of communications; importance of each of the following issues to be included in a list of principles that define the European approach to digital life: access for all to high-quality digital education, access for all to education and training to acquire necessary digital skills to take an active part in society, labour market and democratic processes, education to encourage critical thinking while navigating the internet.

Demography: nationality; age; life satisfaction; frequency of discussions about political matters on national, European, and local level; internet use (at home, at work, on mobile device, at school); marital status; age at end of education; highest completed level of full time education; sex; occupation; professional position; type of community; household composition and household size; financial difficulties during the last year; self-reported belonging to the working class, the middle class or the upper class of society; left-right self-placement; general direction things are going in: own country, EU, personal life; satisfaction with democracy in the own country and in the EU; own voice counts in the own country and in the EU; expectations regarding the life of future generations in the EU.

Additionally coded was: respondent ID; country; questionnaire split; mode of interview; date of interview; time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview; number of persons present during the interview; respondent cooperation; size of locality; language of the interview; region; weighting factor.