EU Neighbourhood Barometer Wave 1 - Spring 2012

Attitudes towards the European Union. Cooperation between the EU and the own country. Trust in institutions. Media use.

Topics: 1. Attitudes towards the European Union: life satisfaction; frequency of political discussions about international, national, and local matters with friends and relatives; opinion leadership; assessment of the current situation in the following areas: national economy, global economy, personal job situation, financial situation of the own household; expected development in the next twelve months regarding: national economy, personal job situation, financial situation of the own household, national employment situation, personal life in general; most important problems in the own country; general direction things are going in the own country; image of the EU; knowledge test on the EU: number of member states, own flag, euro as the common currency of all member states; characteristics that best represent the European Union; assessment of the relations of the own country with the EU; awareness of financial support for the own country provided by the EU in the context of cooperation programmes; knowledge of specific programmes; area with the highest benefit from current European Union’s policies for the own country; attitude towards the following statements: EU has appropriate level of involvement in the own country, EU brings peace and stability in region surrounding the own country, EU is an important partner of the own country, sufficient common values of own country and EU as the basis for cooperation, EU support contributes a lot to own country’s development, position taken by the EU during the Arab Spring was supportive of local populations; prioritized areas the EU should play a greater role in in the own country.

2. Cooperation between the EU and the own country: attitude towards selected statements: appropriate amount of information on the EU available in the own country, clear communication from the EU regarding the own country, communication from the EU not considering reality of life in the own country; most effective actors in helping economic development in the own country; most effective actors in helping security and stability in the own country; extent of contribution of the following local actors to economic development in the own country: national government, presidency (not in MA, JO, EG), private companies in the own country, national banks, NGOs, religious organisations; most important areas of cooperation between the EU and the own country; preferred area to focus EU’s development aid for the own country on.

3. Trust in institutions: trust in selected media: printed press, radio, TV, internet; trust in the following institutions: political parties, European Union, United Nations, NATO, Arab League (only in DZ, EG, TN, JO, LB, PS, MA); trust in selected national bodies: national government, national parliament, regional public authorities, local public authorities; satisfaction with democracy in the own country and in the own region.

4. Media use: assessment of the informedness of the people in the own country about European Union’s actions in the own country; self-rated knowledge about European Union’s actions in the own country; frequency of the following activities: watching television on a TV set, watching television via the internet, listening to the radio, reading printed press, using online social networks, using the internet; preferred sources of information on national political matters; preferred sources of information on the European Union, its policies and institutions; assessment of the appropriateness of coverage with European Union issues in the following media: TV, radio, printed press, websites; assessment of the presentation of the EU in the national media as positive; personal account on: facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Vkontakte (only in RU, AM, AZ, BY, GE, MD, UA), Odnoklassniki (only in RU, AM, AZ, BY, GE, MD, UA), Netlog (only in DZ, EG, JO, LB, MA, PS, TN), Lifejournal (only in RU, AM, AZ, BY, UA); frequency of using the aforementioned networks; member states respondent feels more close to.

Demography: sex; age; age at end of education; marital status; occupation; professional position; visited or lived in another EU country in the last twelve months for the following purposes: visited for business, visited on holiday, lived or worked, studied; EU countries visited or lived in in the last twelve months; relatives living in another EU country for the following purposes: work, study, other reasons; self-rated social position (scale); financial difficulties during the last year; 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); internet use (at home, at work, at school); type of community.

Additionally coded was: respondent ID; country; 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; region; interviewer ID; language of the interview; weighting factor.