Eurobarometer 94.2 (2020)

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. Parlemeter 2020, 2. Social issues, 3. E-Communications in the Single Market, 4. Humanitarian aid and civil protection, 5. EU citizens and development cooperation.<br>Topics: 1. Parlemeter 2020: expected situation in the following areas in one year’s time compared to the current situation: personal living conditions, national economy; recent reception of media reports on the European Parliament; development of the presence of EU affairs in the media compared to 12 months ago; image of the European Parliament; desired importance of the role of the European Parliament; preferred issues to be a main priority of the European Parliament; prioritized values to be defended by the European Parliament; awareness about the ‘Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought’ awarded by the European Parliament; attitude towards the European Union; assessment of the own country’s membership in the EU as a good thing; benefits from the EU membership and reasons for benefit; attitude towards the effectiveness of the EU recovery plan to address the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic and to invest in a green, digital, social and more resilient EU; most used media in the last week; main areas of disagreement between the national government and the EU; image of the EU; development of this image over the last year.

2. Social issues: personal importance of a social Europe; most important elements for the EU´s economic and social development; seriousness of the problem of the lack of social rights; preference for more decision-making at the European level in selected policy areas; awareness of the European Pillar of Social Rights; attitude towards the following statements about the European Pillar of Social Rights: will strengthen employment and social inclusion in the EU as a whole, success will depend on its implementation in the own country; expected future importance of social rights issues in building a stronger Europe; most important issues for the future of Europe: education (incl. training and lifelong learning), gender equality, employment, wages, social dialogue and involvement of workers, work-life balance, health and safety at work, childcare and support for children, social protection, minimum income, old age income and pensions, health care, inclusion of disabled persons, housing and assistance for the homeless, other; most important of the aforementioned issues the national government should take action to prepare the future of Europe; most important of the aforementioned issues the EU should take action to prepare the future of Europe; likelihood to reach a more social Europe by 2030.

3. E-Communications in the Single Market: impact of the restriction measures during the COVID-19 pandemic with regard to adjusting the household internet subscription; satisfaction with internet connection at home with regard to: download speed, upload speed; used telephone number in an event of emergency in: own country, another country; respondent is person with disabilities; awareness of means of contacting emergency services other than by phone call in the own country or in another EU country: via SMS, via an app, via another mean, no awareness; frequency of the following activities: make international phone calls over a landline phone within the EU, make international phone calls over a mobile phone within the EU, make international calls via internet applications (VoIP) within the EU, make international calls to a phone number using internet applications (VoIP) within the EU, send international SMS within the EU, use instant messaging services to reach people within the EU; awareness of cost caps for calls and SMS between EU countries; frequency of calls between EU countries since the introduction of the cost cap using: mobile phone, landline phone; assumed impact of easier available information on the environmental footprint of electronic communications services on personal choice of service provider or patterns of use; experience with regard to the following situations in the last year: received call from an unknown number and been charged for it after answering or calling back, received unsolicited SMS or other type of message and been charged for it after opening the message or responding; travels to another EU country in the last two years; experience with regard to the following situations in the last two years: lower mobile internet speed, lower broadband network standard, being charged when using a toll-free number, special numbers were blocked; use of mobile phone in another EU country in the last two years: no use, switch off data roaming capabilities, activate special data roaming plan offered by network operator, use SIM card of the country of visit.

4. Humanitarian aid and civil protection: preparedness of selected authorities to respond to natural hazards: regional or local authorities, national authorities, European Union authorities, global level authorities; awareness of the risk of disaster in the own region; awareness and importance of the EU helping to coordinate disaster response within the EU; awareness of the own country’s participation in this coordinated response; attitude towards the following statements about EU coordination with regard to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic: has helped own country to respond more effectively to the pandemic, coordinated EU action should be increased; attitude towards the following statements: other EU countries are expected to provide help in case of a disaster in the own country, own country should provide help in case of a disaster in another EU country; preferred information sources on EU civil protection policy; awareness and importance of the EU funding humanitarian aid activities; feelings with regard to the EU being amongst the main donors of humanitarian aid in the world; humanitarian aid provided by each member state separately is more efficient than provided by the EU as a whole; attitude towards the level of spending; attitude towards the EU delivering humanitarian assistance to countries outside the EU affected by the coronavirus pandemic; preferred information sources on EU humanitarian aid policy.

5. EU citizens and development cooperation: importance to partner with countries outside the EU to reduce poverty around the world; 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; most important challenges for the future of developing countries; attitude towards a strengthened partnership between Africa and the EU; importance for the EU to tackle climate change and its effects in developing countries; preferred statement with regard to EU development policy: should only focus on helping developing countries to strengthen their economies, should also focus on reducing inequalities in developing countries; importance of young people in developing countries in tackling the following challenges: environmental challenges, economic and social challenges; assessment of the EU’s success in driving positive and sustainable change around the world in the following areas: tackling poverty, addressing climate change.

Demography: age; nationality; left-right self-placement; marital status; age at end of education; highest completed level of full time education; sex; occupation; professional position; type of community; household composition and household size; own a mobile phone and fixed (landline) phone; internet connection; 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; frequency of discussions about political matters on national, European, and local level; general direction things are going in: own country, EU, USA; optimism about the future of the EU; satisfaction with the democracy in the own country and in the EU; own voice counts in the own country and in the EU; own country’s voice counts in the EU.

Additionally coded was: respondent ID; country; date of interview; number of persons present during the interview; respondent cooperation; size of locality; language of the interview; region; weighting factor.