EU Neighbourhood Barometer Wave 5 - Spring 2014

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

Topics: 1. Attitudes towards the European Union: life satisfaction; frequency of discussions about political matters on international, national, and local level 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, in the Arab world (only in DZ, EG, TN, JO, LB, LY, PS, MA), in the European Union, in the world; image of the EU; 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; areas 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; 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; 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), private companies in the own country, national banks, NGOs, religious organisations, regional public authorities, local public authorities; 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; 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, LY, MA, PS, TN), Lifejournal (only in RU, AM, AZ, BY, UA), Instagram; frequency of using the aforementioned networks; trust in the following institutions: European Union, United Nations, NATO, Arab League (only in DZ, EG, TN, JO, LB, PS, MA, LY); trust in selected national bodies: national government, national parliament, regional public authorities, local public authorities, political parties; satisfaction with democracy in the own country and in the own region; extent of applicability of the following elements to the own country: freedom of speech, free elections, gender equality, protection of the rights of minorities, independence of justice, freedom of press, rights of vote, respect of human rights, rule of law, good governance, lack of corruption; elements that best describe the concept of democracy.

4. Media use: 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; most frequently used TV channels, radio stations, daily newspapers, and websites; preferred TV and radio programmes; most trustworthy media with regard to political news; perceived focus of the following national media primarily on national or on international matters: TV, radio, printed press, websites; assessment of the reliability of the reporting of the aforementioned media; political independence of these media; timeliness; influence on public opinion; attitude towards selected statements: internet contributes to diversity of opinions, link between free and independent media and democracy, journalists should be protected in the exercise of their duties; preferred sources of information on the European Union, its policies and its institutions; attitude towards the following statements on political information in online social networks: modern way to keep abreast, not trustworthy, can get people interested, good way to have a say.

5. Global crisis: assessment of the impact of the crisis on the national economic situation and the personal situation; experienced loss of job due to crisis: respondent himself / herself, family member or close friend, colleague.

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; weighting factor.