Eurobarometer 94.1 (2020)

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. Democracy in the EU, 3. Values and identities of EU citizens.<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, European politicians, influencers or activists, members of civil society organisations, others, no interest in discussion the future of the EU; 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; preferred bodies or persons to be involved in the Conference on the Future of Europe; attitude towards selected statements on the Conference on the Future of Europe: should specifically involve young people to foster new ideas, represents significant progress for democracy within the EU, will have no real impact, should deal in priority with how the EU could better handle crises such as the coronavirus outbreak; readiness to take part in the activities of the Conference on the Future of Europe; preferred activities; 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; 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, 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, both; Coronavirus crisis made respondent reflect on the future of the European Union; 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 army, deeper economic integration, common health policy, stronger solidarity among the member states, 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; preferred share of decisions taken at EU level in ten years compared with today; participation in the last elections to the European Parliament; attitude towards the process of choosing lead candidates for each political family, who can then become President of the European Commission; attitude towards the possibility to also vote for transnational lists; attitude towards the following statements regarding the fact that the lead candidates chosen by the European political families could become President of the European Commission according to the European election results: would represent significant progress for democracy within the EU, would bring more transparency to the process of electing the President of the European Commission, would give more legitimacy to the European Commission, would have no real impact, would prevent member states’ governments from choosing the best candidate for the job, would only make sense if EU citizens were given the possibility to vote for transnational lists; assessment of the own country’s membership in the EU as a good thing; development of EU image over the last six months; EU should have more competences to deal with crises such as the Coronavirus pandemic; preferred statement with regard to the European Union: respondent is in favour of the European Union and the way it has been realised so far, respondent is rather in favour of the European Union but not the way it has been realised until now, 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; satisfaction with the measures taken by the following institutions in order to fight the Coronavirus pandemic: national government, European Union; preferred EU measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic; assessment of the effectiveness of selected EU measures to respond to the economic effects of the Coronavirus pandemic: recovery plan supporting the economy through grants and loans (‘Next Generation EU’), financial support to keep people in jobs, allow national governments to make public deficit to support the economy in these exceptional circumstances, public subsidies to companies that face difficulties; change in traveling behaviour due to the Coronavirus pandemic combined with the effects of climate change and the digitalization of economy: travel to less crowded places or destinations, take holidays outside the main season, travel less frequently but for longer stays, shorter distance journeys, more environmentally friendly services, consideration of different transportation options, use of more personalised tourism services through the use of data and improved digital tools, choose tourism services that clearly inform about security and safety measures in place, choose more affordable tourism options than in the past, spend proportionately more of own disposable income on travel or tourism than in the past, travel only in own country or region, travel as much as in the past, stop travelling completely until the pandemic is over.

2. Democracy in the EU: concern about each of the following issues with regard to European elections: people voting who are not entitled to vote, final result of an election being manipulated, elections being manipulated through cyberattacks, people being pressured into voting a particular way, foreign actors and criminal groups influencing elections covertly; impact of the availability of remote voting options in elections on personal willingness to vote; concerns with regard to remote voting: difficulties of use for some people, potential for fraud or cyberattack, security of the ballot; attitude towards the application of specific rules in traditional media, e.g. silence periods, in a pre-election period also in online social networks, internet platforms and the actors using them; personal experience with the following situations: intimidation of politicians through threats or hateful messages, disinformation, divisive content, content where it was not easy to determine whether it was a political advertisement or not.

3. Values and identities of EU citizens: personal importance of religion; personal identification with the following characteristics and attitudes: have all sorts of new experiences, listen to and understand people who are different, tell others what to do, own country needs to protect itself, importance to care for nature, take care of people one is close to, make own decisions about personal life, own expensive things to show personal wealth, personal safeness and security, maintain traditional values and ways of thinking, form personal views independently, never violate rules or regulations, every person in the world should have equal opportunities in life; attitude towards selected social issues (scale): death penalty, respect for the choice of personal lifestyle and family life, freedom of thought and expression as well as religion, freedom of peaceful assembly and demonstration, right to asylum in case of well-founded fear of persecution, right to move and work freely across national borders within the EU for European citizens, independence of judges, support of most vulnerable citizens by the national government, ensurance of equality between women and men in all areas, discrimination, equal treatment by law and the right to fair trials in independent courts; personal identification with the following issues: occupation, ethnic or racial background, religion or beliefs, local area or region, gender, age and stage of life, level of education, sexual orientation, nationality, being European, political orientation, family; feeling of threats to personal identity.

Demography: sex; age; nationality; internet use (at home, at work, on mobile device, at school); left-right self-placement; marital status; age at end of education; highest completed level of full time education; 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; life satisfaction; frequency of discussions about political matters on national, European, and local level; general direction things are going in: own country, EU, USA; EU image; satisfaction with the democracy in the own country; own voice counts in the EU and in the own country; expectations regarding the life of future generations in the EU.

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