Eurobarometer 84.2 (2015)

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. E-Communications in the household, 2. Awareness and perception of Europeans about EU customs, 3. Europeans, Agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy.<br>Topics: 1. E-Communications in the household: number of mobile phone accesses in the household and of mobile phone subscriptions or pre-paid arrangements giving access to internet; TV reception via: aerial, Digital Terrestrial Television (i.e. aerial plus decoder), cable TV network (i.e. analogue), cable TV network plus decoder (i.e. digital), satellite TV via satellite dish plus decoder, telephone network plus modem and / or decoder; main considered factors when subscribing to an internet connection; frequency of the following activities: make or receive phone calls over a landline phone, make or receive phone calls over a mobile phone, send or receive SMS, use instant messaging services on the internet, make phone or video calls via internet applications, send e-mails, post content on online social media; most important services and applications in daily life; use of the following paid services on the internet to access: music, films, books or newspapers, sports events, phone calls, cloud services; number of paid internet services; subscription to a bundle consisting of: fixed line telephone, mobile phone, fixed or mobile internet access, TV channels; comparability of services and prices of current bundle with other offers; considerations to change service provider; attitude towards the same level of consumer protection concerning the use of messaging services, e-mail or phone services via the internet as with regard to traditional communication services; importance to keep fixed telephone number, mobile telephone number, or online stored content when switching communications service provider; subscription to a new, renewed or amended contract in the last three years for: fixed internet access, mobile internet access, mobile phone, fixed phone, TV, bundle; awareness of terms of contract about user rights in the last signed contract for communications services; approval of selected statements regarding the last contract on the information provided on: quality of services subscribed to, termination, duration and renewal or roll over conditions; assessment of the easiness to monitor and control consumption regarding: fixed telephone services, mobile telephone services, fixed internet access services, mobile internet access services; willingness to sign communication services contract with a duration longer than two years in exchange for higher speed and enhanced quality of service; used telephone number in an event of emergency in the own country; knowledge of the European Union-wide emergency number 112.

2. Awareness and perception of Europeans about EU customs: enumeration of activities of EU customs authorities; knowledge test on EU customs: controls passports at borders, also acts on behalf of other government agencies at EU borders, checks goods crossing borders between EU member states, obligation to pay customs duties on goods from outside the EU only once when imported into the EU; self-rated knowledge on selected aspects regarding the EU Customs Union and the activities of EU customs; prioritized activities of EU customs.

3. Europeans, Agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy: future importance of agriculture and rural areas in the EU; awareness of the support given to farmers by the EU through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP); Common Agricultural Policy benefits all EU citizens and not only farmers; preferred main objectives of EU agriculture and rural development policy; assessment of selected EU activities in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as appropriate: ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers, developing rural areas in a balanced way, ensuring reasonable food prices, guaranteeing food supply in the EU, environmental protection and tackling climate change, ensuring quality of agricultural products; main responsibilities of farmers in society; importance of each of the following CAP priorities: enhancing competitiveness and productivity of European agriculture, developing research and innovation in agriculture, investing in rural areas to stimulate economic growth and job creation, strengthening the role of farmers in the food chain, encouraging young people to enter in agricultural sector; attitude towards selected statements on the contribution of CAP to: boosting investment and growth in the agriculture or food sector, helping the smooth running of the EU Single Market, improving trade relations between the EU and the rest of the world, mitigating the impact of climate change, extending coverage of broadband internet and communication services in rural areas; assessment of the amount of financial support from combined national public expenditure and from the EU budget to farmers as appropriate; assumed reasons for spending 40 % of EU budget on Common Agricultural Policy; desired development of financial support to farmers over the next ten years; awareness of selected logos; most important benefits provided by forests; attitude towards reducing payments to farmers not fulfilling the following standards: food safety standards, animal welfare standards, environmental standards; attitude towards the EU continuing to give payments to farmers carrying out ´greening´ activities; desire for more information on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP); preferred field of information: support to farmers, guaranteeing food safety, boosting rural economy.

Demography: nationality; 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 connection at home; left-right self-placement; marital status; age at end of education; sex; age; occupation; professional position; type of community; household composition and household size; 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; life satisfaction; 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.

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.