Eurobarometer 90.2 (2018)

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. Climate change, 3. Future of Europe, 4. Internet security.<br>Topics: 1. Future of Europe: preferred characteristics of the future European Union: equal wages for the same job, minimum level of guaranteed health care, government for the entire EU, gender equality, reduction in food waste, increased use of renewable energies, equal access to education, guaranteed minimum pension, increase of organic agriculture, high level of security; preference for more or less harmonization between EU countries with regard to the following areas: education, food safety, social benefits, quality of goods and services, privacy and data protection, environmental standards, animal welfare, wages, quality of agricultural goods, pensions, taxation, consumer protection; preferred measures with regard to immigration into the EU in order to increase benefit for European citizens: improve situation in countries of origin, reinforce controls at European borders, develop common asylum policy, fight illegal immigration, welcome all people, create a Border Guard Corps at EU level, inforce integration, impose limits on the arrival of new people, reinforce collaboration between EU countries; preferred measures with regard to environmental protection: preserve natural resources, reduce food waste, set stricter norms for industry, develop renewable energies, invest in more environmentally-friendly forms of transport, reduce energy consumption, deal with technological and electronic waste, increase recycling and waste sorting, protect biodiversity; preferred measures with regard to make life safer for citizens: better cooperation of the member states in the field of defence policy, tackle cybercrime, better control of external borders, combat terrorism and radicalisation; main threats for the future EU: armed conflict within the EU, disagreement between member states, declining birth rate, conflicts with countries outside the EU, poor immigration management, political extremism, new member states, epidemics or diseases, terrorist attacks, brain drain, natural disasters, ageing population, pollution, member state leaving the EU; preferred measures to provide economic security: jobs for everyone, universal basic income, stimulate economic growth, fair level of state pensions, fight corruption, harmonize social rights, increase welfare benefits.

2. Climate change: assessment of human impact on climate change; impact of climate change on each of the following events: heat or cold waves, droughts and wildfires, floods, hurricanes and heavy rainstorms, earthquakes, landslides; most likely events due to climate change in 2050; attitude towards the implementation of measures in the EU member states to promote: recycling, energy efficiency, clean economy; attitude towards the following statements: fighting climate change and more efficient use of energy can boost economy and jobs in the EU, promoting EU expertise in new clean technologies to countries outside the EU can benefit the EU economically, reducing fossil fuel imports from outside the EU can benefit the EU economically, reducing fossil fuel imports from outside the EU can increase the security of EU energy supplies, more public support should be given to the transition to clean energies.

3. Future of Europe: main assets and main challenges of the EU; preferred issues to be emphasized by society in order to face 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; image of the following countries or group of countries: EU, Germany, France, United Kingdom, USA, Russia, China, Japan; most important issues for the future EU: comparable education standards, well defined external borders, introduction of the euro in all member states, comparable living standards, common army, economic government for the entire EU; attitude towards selected statements: EU is a place of stability in a troubled world, free-market economy should go with a high level of social protection, globalisation threatens national identity, EU offers a future perspective for European youth, recognition of people’s interests by national political system, rise of political parties protesting against traditional political elites is a matter of concern, everyone in the own country has a chance to succeed in life; expectations regarding the life of future generations in the EU; assessment of the quality of life in the EU compared to: USA, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Russia; assessment of the political influence of the EU compared to: USA, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Russia; preference for enhancing common European policy in important areas on instigation of only some member states or by all of them (two speed Europe); preferred level of decision-making in the fields of: migration, fight against terrorism, employment and social protection, energy policy, environmental protection, health and consumer protection, economy and growth, agriculture and fisheries, foreign policy, security and defence policy, research and development, education; attitudes towards EU support of selected member states with regard to: guaranteeing minimum standard of living, tackling environmental crisis or natural disaster, tackling migration crisis, tackling terrorist attack; optimism about the future of the EU.

4. Internet security: devices used to access the internet; frequency of the following online activities: banking, buy goods or services, sell goods or services, use social networks, email, read news, play games, watch TV, read blogs, listen to radio and podcast, access public services, watch videos or listen to music, follow courses; concern about using the internet for online banking or the purchase of goods and services with regard to selected aspects: missing inspection of goods, security of online payments, misuse of personal data, missing delivery of ordered good or service; change of password of the following online services during the last twelve months: email account, social networks, shopping websites, banking websites, games, public services websites; change in internet use due to concern about security issues: less likely to buy goods or services, less likely to bank online, less likely to give personal information on websites, change security settings, visit only known or trusted websites, use different passwords for different sites, read e-mails only from persons respondent knows, only make use of own computer, install antivirus software, cancel online purchase due to suspicious seller or website, change password regularly, use more complex passwords, other, no concern; measures taken in the own household to protect children under 16 years from online harassment; self-rated knowledge about the risks of cybercrime; concern about becoming a victim of each of the following types of cyber criminal activities: receiving emails or phone calls asking for personal data, online fraud, denial of access to online services, malicious software on personal device, identity theft, encountering child pornography, encountering material promoting racial hatred or religious extremism, personal social media or email account being hacked, bank card or online banking fraud, being asked for a payment in return for getting back control over personal device; assessment of each of the aforementioned activities as a serious crime; frequency of having experienced the aforementioned situations (personally or friends or family); (assumed) reaction to the problem; awareness of a national contact point where to report cybercrime; attitude towards selected statements: concern about online personal information not being kept secure by websites, concern about online personal information not being kept secure by public authorities, avoidance of disclosing personal information online, increased risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime, appropriate ability of the respondent to protect himself / herself.

Demography: age; nationality; internet use (at home, at work, at school); left-right self-placement; marital status; sex; age at end of education; occupation; professional position; type of community; household composition and household size; own a mobile phone and fixed (landline) phone; financial difficulties during the last year; self-reported belonging to the working class, the middle class or the upper class of society; life satisfaction; expected development of personal living conditions in the next five years; frequency of discussions about political matters on national, European, and local level; own voice counts in the own country and in the EU; general direction things are going in the own country and in the EU; opinion leadership; EU image.

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; language of the interview; nation group; weighting factor.