Eurobarometer 91.5 (2019)

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 (standard & special modules) are included: 1. Standard EU and trend questions, 2. Europe 2020 strategy and policy priorities, 3. Financial and economic crisis and related EU policies, 4. European citizenship, 5. Future of Europe, media use and political information, 6. European Parliament 2019 Post-Electoral Survey I, European Parliament 2019 Post-Electoral Survey II, 7. EU citizens and development cooperation.<br>Topics: 1. Attitudes towards the EU (standard EU and trend questions): assessment of the current situation in the following areas: own country, national economy, European economy, personal job situation, financial situation of the own household, national employment situation, provision of public services in the own country; expectations for the next twelve months regarding: personal life in general, situation in the own country in general, national economic situation, financial situation of the own household, national employment situation, personal job situation, economic situation in the EU; most important problems in the own country, personally, and in the EU; general direction things are going in the own country, the EU, and in the USA; trust in selected institutions: media, political parties, national legal system, police, army, public administration, regional or local public authorities, national government, national parliament, European Union, United Nations; image of the EU; positive associations with the following terms: free trade, globalisation, protectionism, large companies, small and medium-sized companies, welfare state, security, solidarity, entrepreneurship, liberalisation, competition, trade unions, public service; meaning of the EU to the respondent; most suitable attributes for describing the EU: modern, democratic, protective, efficient, remote, forward-looking; assessment of the own country’s membership in the EU as a good thing; benefits from the EU membership and reasons for benefit; assessment of the full application of EU legislation for the Turkish Cypriot Community (TCC) as a good thing; expectations of benefit from the full application of EU legislation for the Turkish Cypriot Community (TCC); knowledge of and trust in selected institutions: European Parliament, European Commission, European Central Bank, European Council, Council of the European Union; knowledge test on the EU: number of member states, direct election of European Parliament members by the citizens of each member state, Switzerland is a member of the EU; attitude towards the following issues: European economic and monetary union with one single currency, common foreign policy of all member states, further enlargement, common defence and security policy, common trade policy, common migration policy, common energy policy, digital single market within the EU, free movement of EU citizens; satisfaction with the democracy in the own country and in the EU; approval of the following statements: respondent understands how the EU works, recognition of the own country’s interests in the EU, EU’s voice counts in the world, globalisation as an opportunity for economic growth, better development of the own country outside the EU, more decisions to be taken at EU level; optimism about the future of the EU.

2. Europe 2020 strategy and policy priorities: likelihood to bring industry’s contribution to the EU economy to 20 % of GDP by 2020; most important objectives in a European energy union; feeling towards immigration of people from: other EU member states, outside the EU; attitude towards additional measures to fight illegal immigration of people from outside the EU on EU level and / or on national level; attitude towards the right for EU citizens to: live or work in every member state of the EU, live or work in the respondent’s country.

3. Financial and economic crisis and related EU policies: impact of the economic crisis on the job market has already reached its peak; approval of the following statements: measures to reduce public deficit and debt in the own country cannot be delayed (split A), measures to reduce public deficit and debt in the own country are not a priority for now (split B), EU has sufficient power and tools to defend its economic interests globally, private sector is better placed to create new jobs than public sector, public money should be used to stimulate private sector investment at EU level.

4. European citizenship: feeling of attachment towards: own city, own country, European Union, Europe; approval of the following statements: feeling of being a citizen of the EU, knowledge of the rights of EU citizens, desire for more information on the rights of EU citizens; feeling of national and / or European identity; most positive results of the EU; most important personal values; values that best represent the EU; amount of shared values between the member states; approval of selected statements: immigrants contribute a lot to the own country, quality of life was better before, respondent understands what is going on the world, own country should help refugees, people in the own country have a lot of things in common, people in the EU have a lot of things in common, confidence in the future; assessment of the current speed of building Europe and preferred speed; personal benefit from the following EU achievements: reduced border controls, improved consumer rights when shopping in another EU country, cheaper calls when using a mobile phone in another EU country, receiving medical assistance in another EU country, strengthened rights of air transport passengers, working, living, or studying in another EU country; happiness with the following aspects: living in the own country, living in the EU.

5. Future of the EU, media use and political information: preference for more decision-making at EU level in each of the following areas: fight against terrorism, health and social security, gender equality, democracy and peace, secure energy supply, migration issues from outside the EU, environmental protection, investment and job creation; attitude towards the following statements on news that misrepresent reality: often to be found, easy to identify, is a problem in the own country, is a problem for democracy in general.

6. European Parliament 2019 Post-Electoral Survey I + II: participation in the last European Parliament elections; time of voting decision; voting behaviour; insecurity before the elections with regard to voting decision; reasons for voting decision; reasons for voting in the last European Parliament elections; most important political issues that influenced the decision to vote; time of decision not to vote in the last European Parliament elections; reasons for not voting in the last European Parliament elections; impact of the Brexit on decision to vote; satisfaction with selected issues of democracy in the European Union: free and fair elections, freedom of speech, media diversity, possibility to participate in political life, rule of law, respect for fundamental rights, opportunities for the civil society to participate in promoting and protecting democracy, fight against disinformation in the media, fight against corruption; awareness of messages in the media encouraging people to vote; frequency of using the following media in the last two weeks before the last European Parliament elections: TV, radio, written press, internet, online social networks; frequency of the following activities in the last two weeks before the last elections: reading or discussing about politics using a messaging app, participation in political discussions on online social networks; participation in the last national elections; voting behaviour.

7. EU citizens and development cooperation: importance to help people in developing countries; most important challenges in developing countries; attitude towards a strengthened partnership between Africa and the EU; attitude towards increasing development aid; attitude towards the following statements regarding tackling poverty in developing countries: should be a main priority of the EU, should be a main priority of the national government, is in the EU’s own interest, contributes to a more peaceful and equal world, is an effective way to tackle irregular migration, is an effective way to reduce inequalities in these countries, is an effective way to strengthen the EU’s influence in the world; preferred role of private companies in sustainable development.

Demography: nationality; life satisfaction; frequency of discussions about political matters on national, European, and local level; opinion leadership; left-right self-placement; marital status; age at end of education; sex; age; 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); financial difficulties during the last year; internet use (at home, at work, at school); self-reported belonging to the working class, the middle class or the upper class of society; own voice counts in the own country and in the EU.

Additionally coded was: respondent ID; country; questionnaire split; 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.