Eurobarometer 65.2 (Mar-May 2006)

Attitude towards the European Union. Knowledge and evaluation of EU institutions. Common EU policy. EU enlargement. Avian influenza. Energy issues.

Topics: 1. Frequency of political discussions with friends; personal opinion leadership; general life satisfaction; expected change in the next 12 months in relation to life in general, the economic situation in the own country, the financial situation of the own household, the employment situation in the own country as well as the personal job situation; comparison of the present situation with five years ago, and expectations for the future; awareness of the European flag and its meaning, attitude towards the flag (good symbol for Europe, stands for something good, identification with the flag, flag should be seen on all public buildings next to the national flag); trust in institutions (national legal system, political parties, national government, national parliament, EU, UN); EU membership of the own country as a good thing; assessment of the benefits of the EU membership for the own country; image of the EU; meaning of the EU to the respondent; attitude towards the EU (scale: positive impact of the EU membership on security, economic and political stability, own voice counts in the EU, understanding how the EU works, consideration of the own country’s interests in the EU, influence and power of the member states in the EU); expected and desired significance of the EU for the daily life of respondent in five years; fears regarding the EU (loss of power for smaller member states, increase in drug trafficking and organized crime, rising household expenses of the own country to the EU, loss of social benefits, loss of national identity and culture, economic crisis, transfer of jobs to other member states, more difficulties for national farmers); preferred source of information for news; self-rated knowledge about the EU; preferred sources of information about the EU; media use: regularly used television channels, radio stations, and newspapers; satisfaction with the coverage of topics concerning the EU in the media; assessment of the objectivity with which EU affairs are presented by the national television, radio, and print media; knowledge of European institutions (European Parliament, European Commission, Council of the European Union, European Court of Justice, European Central Bank); importance of and trust in these institutions; knowledge test (number of member states, direct elections of the members of the European parliament, amount of the share of the EU budget that is spent on personnel and administrative costs); most important issues facing the own country; positive role of the EU in the areas of: fighting crime and terrorism, public transport, economic situation, rising prices and inflation, taxation and fighting unemployment, defence and foreign affairs, housing, immigration, healthcare system, educational system, pensions, and environmental protection; attitude towards a European monetary union, a common foreign policy among the EU member states, a common defence and security policy, further enlargement of the EU, a constitution for the EU, different speed of building Europe in the member states; most important political actions of the EU; attitude towards the further development of the EU´s Common Foreign and Security Policy (own foreign minister, independence from the US foreign policy, common immigration policy); assessment of the EU´s international role compared to five years ago; satisfaction with democracy in the own country and in the EU; attachment of the respondent to his village or his city, his country, as well as to Europe (split: European Union); positive or negative image of selected items (company, competitiveness, social security, free trade, protectionism, globalisation, trade union, reforms, public administration); knowledge of the European constitution; potential impact of a common European constitution (EU becomes more democratic, more efficient, more transparent, more economically competitive, more socially-minded); attitude towards further actions of the EU regarding the European constitution after the rejection by the Netherlands and France; assessment of the current situation and comparison of the own country with the average of the EU member states regarding the economic situation, the employment situation, the situation of the environment, the social welfare situation, the educational system, the quality of life, and the own financial situation; expected change in the next five years regarding: national and European economic situation, national employment situation, situation of the environment in the own country, national social welfare situation, and personal quality of life; assessment of the performance of the European economy in comparison to the American, Japanese, Chinese, and Indian economy; preferred measures to improve the performance of the European economy.

2. Knowledge of the respondent about the EU enlargement; self-rated knowledge about the benefits or problems (for the EU and the new member states) of the EU enlargement; need for more information on the consequences of the EU enlargement; preferred information sources and primarily responsible distributors of information on the EU enlargement; assessment of the development of imports and exports between the old and the new member states since 2004; assessment of the migration flows between the old and the new member states; approval of selected political and economic aspects of the EU enlargement (good way to reunite the European continent, strengthens the EU, promotes the expression of solidarity to candidate countries, consolidates common European interests and values, peacekeeping, reduces the chance for a common EU voice in the world, promotes democracy, worsens the situation of human and minority rights, facilitates progress towards a political unification in Europe, increases political instability, strengthens the EU´s role in the world, weakens the democratic decision-making processes, increases the protection of human rights and minorities, hinders projects of political integration, makes the EU the biggest trade player in the world, increases jobs transferring to low-wage countries, increases the support for the development of candidate countries, increases labour migration, decreases economic development opportunities, increases prosperity, decreases budgetary resources for the own country, ensures better integration of the population from future member states in the EU, reinforces the power to combat crime, lowers life standards, enriches Europe’s cultural diversity, facilitates mobility within Europe, increases risks of criminal activities, facilitates the expansion of life standards and norms on the European territory, leads to disappearance of cultural identities and traditions, increases illegal immigration); most important prerequisites for the success of a further EU enlargement; main challenges for the Western Balkan countries and Turkey on their way to the EU; country or group of countries with the most interest in the accession of the Western Balkan countries and Turkey to the EU; attitude towards the accession of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, and Croatia to the EU; attitude towards the financial assistance of the candidate and potential candidate countries to reach EU standards before accession.

3. Avian influenza: knowledge test regarding the risk of infection with avian influenza; change in the frequency of consumption of poultry products within the last six months; intention to reduce the consumption of poultry products permanently or temporarily; reasons to reduce the consumption of poultry products; knowledge test: existence of European legislation for protection measures to be taken by national governments in the event of an avian influenza epidemic, existence of an EU veterinary experts committee, financial compensation to affected farmers, EU controls on poultry imports, successful containment of the avian influenza epidemic in 2003; knowledge of the measures already taken by the EU (confinement of poultry within high-risk areas, banning imports of live poultry and poultry meat from countries outside the EU where the presence of avian influenza has been confirmed, banning events with live bird in high-risk areas, creating safety areas, reinforcing disinfection measures in high-risk areas, systematic culling of all poultry on affected farms); attitude towards the actions taken by the European authorities, and towards the reporting on the avian influenza in the media.

4. Energy issues: preferred measures to reduce energy consumption; willingness to pay more for energy from renewable sources (Split: willingness to pay more for energy consumption in general); preferred level of decision-making for addressing the challenges in the energy sector (European, national, or local level).

Demography: nationality; age; left-right self-placement; family situation; age at end of education; sex; occupation; professional position; type of community; 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; national provenance of respondent and parents (migratory background); religious denomination; church attendance.

Also encoded was: date of interview; beginning of interview; duration of interview; persons present during the interview; city size; region; language of interview (only in LU, BE, ES, FI, EE, LV, MT und TR); weighting factor.