Eurobarometer: The EP and the expectations of European citizens

This seventh Parlemeter survey was carried out by TNS Opinion & Social between 17 November and 2 December 2012 and involved 26 739 European citizens from the 27 EU Member States.

The main findings of this survey can be summarised as follows:

In the view of the 2014 European elections, two complementary analyses were dedicated to the electoral behaviour in the 2009 European elections.

Firstly, a desk research on the electoral behaviour in 2009. It aims at better understanding the results of the post-electoral survey of the European Parliament, of June 2009 (face-to-face with 26 830 European citizens), in which four profiles of voters and abstainers were identified.

Secondly, a qualitative study based on focus groups (3 focus groups per Member States, of a dozen participants each) that were conducted across the 27 Member States in March 2012. These were more particularly dedicated to the reasons of two categories of abstainers in 2009: the "impulsive" and "unspecified" ones.

With the June 2014 European elections on the horizon, and to coincide with the EP/national parliaments conference which took place on the 3 October 2012 on gender equality in the European Union, it seemed timely to revisit this question.

This study analyses the issues of concern to women in the EU since the 2009 European elections. The majority of Eurobarometer surveys conducted since this date have been analysed.

Now that the 2014 European elections are within sight, it seemed appropriate to carry out a large-scale survey of Europeans’ perceptions of the European Union, their knowledge of the institutions and their expectations in this time of crisis.

The fieldwork for this Eurobarometer / European Parliament survey was carried out between 2 and 17 June 2012. The survey was carried out face to face with 26 622 citizens by TNS opinion in 27 EU countries.

This Flash Eurobarometer was conducted one day after the Irish referendum of 31st May 2012 on the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (Fiscal compact). Two thousand Irish registered voters aged 18 or over were interviewed about their reasons for voting or not, their understanding of the treaty, as well as their main sources of information and knowledge about the EU.

Among the 50,6% who turned out to vote, 60,3% voted in favour of the treaty and 39,7% voted against it.

This Eurobarometer survey on ‘The crisis and the economic governance in Europe is the fifth carried out by the European Parliament. It was conducted by TNS opinion between 10 and 25 March 2012, in face-to-face interviews with 26 593 Europeans aged 15 and over.

Prior to key meetings of heads of state and government on the theme of the crisis, most Europeans think that the EU has to take action to reduce public spending and boost economic growth at the same time (47%) 25 % of Europeans consider that priority must be given to measures that stimulate the economy, and 23 % are in favour of measures to reduce public spending.

This year, on International Women's Day (8 March), the European Parliament will be focusing on the pay gap between women and men.

In this connection, Parliament asked TNS Opinion to carry out a Flash telephone survey, which was conducted on 19 and 20 January 2012 among 25 539 European citizens in the 27 EU Member States.

The questions focused on the pay gap, as well as a number of other topics. TNS Opinion's report gives a detailed account of the survey's findings, which mainly concern child-minding responsibilities and gender issues at work.

At the mid-term 2009-2014, this new Parlemeter reviews the perception of Europeans on the European Parliament, policies and values they wish to see promoted and defended.

The fieldwork was led by TNS opinion between 3 and 20 November 2011, in a particularly difficult European context: let us remember, amongst others, the failed referendum in Greece, the change of Prime minister in this country as well as in Italy, the increase in the interest rate of the sovereign debts in several countries of the Euro zone, the general elections in Spain, the G20 summit, etc.

This EB/PE survey "Europeans and the crisis" was conducted by TNS Opinion between 3rd and 18th September 2011 on the basis of face to face interviews with 26.856 citizens aged over 15. The previous one was carried out in April-May 2011.

On the question of financial solidarity between Member States, there is a trend to a kind of polarization of the public opinion: the number of respondents who "do not know" decreased between the two surveys, in favour of negative answers.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of respondents say they do not feel informed about the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Ombudsman, the other EU institutions, and the European Network of Ombudsmen clearly have a major role to play in informing citizens better about the Charter.

Almost half of the respondents consider the right to move and reside freely in the EU to be the most important citizens' right. The second most important citizens' right, according to the respondents, is the right to good administration, followed by the right to lodge complaints with the Ombudsman. This result is very encouraging for the Ombudsman's efforts to strengthen his visibility in order to help citizens make use of their right to good administration.

On the initiative of the European Parliament, 2011 has been declared the ‘Year of Volunteering’, while 2012 will be the ‘Year of Intergenerational Solidarity’: two good reasons for the European Parliament to conduct a Eurobarometer survey in order to discover what Europeans think about these two concepts, and to understand better how they experience them or put them into practice.

This Eurobarometer survey was conducted between 1 and 16 May 2011 by TNS opinion.

Before analysing the responses from Europeans, it is necessary to emphasise some important points which can be drawn from this survey.

This Eurobarometer survey on "Europeans and the crisis" is the third such survey realised by the European Parliament.

The first one was carried out in January-February 2009, six months before the European elections, while the second was conducted in September 2010. The fieldwork for this survey was carried out by TNS opinion between 13 April and 2 May 2011 on the basis of face-to-face interviews with 26 825 European citizens.

In the seven months since the previous survey, the national and international context has been marked by several major events which have undoubtedly played an important role in shaping the answers of Europeans to the questions posed.

This Eurobarometer of the European Parliament dedicated to energy follows a previous survey published in January 2011 in view of the European Council of 4 February (EB Standard 74.3). This survey dealt with energy supply, cooperation and solidarity.

Considering the new positions adopted by the European Parliament, this new survey focuses on more specific themes, but also extremely important for the development of an energy policy of the Union: energy savings, energy supply difficulties, integration of networks and the European Community for energy. The fieldwork was conducted by TNS Opinion between 9 February and 6 March 2011, in a context of a hard winter and an increase of all raw materials prices.

Citizens’ Agora on "crisis and poverty" was organised by the European Parliament on 27 and 28 January 2011. It brought together the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), the Members of the Economic and Social Committee (EESC), and Representatives of NGOs, who represented the organised civil society.

A previous survey of the European Parliament has already been published on the 7th March 2011, one day before the 100th anniversary of Women's day. At that time, we only had the global results. The survey was conducted by TNS Opinion from the 9 February to the 6 March 2011.

The fieldwork of this new Parlemeter survey on the European Parliament was between 25 November and 17 December 2010. In view of the 2014 European elections, it is necessary to assess the perception that European citizens have of the European Parliament and the policies and values which the institution must defend.

On the eve of the first European Council of 4 February 2011, devoted exclusively to energy, it became useful to measure the perception that Europeans have on the energy issue and on the respective roles of the European Union and its Member States in this area.

This survey of Europeans and the crisis is the second one instigated by the European Parliament. The first took place in January/February 2009, preceding the European elections of June 2009.

Between the two European Parliament enquiries, the European Union launched various initiatives aimed at fighting the crisis: regulations, a European monetary fund, economic governance, 2020 strategy, etc. The Parliament has taken stances on some of these, or is about to, through various global reports.

This first, post-European elections standard "Parlemetre" functions as a primary post-electoral account of European citizens' perception of the European Parliament, and the image that the institution represents to them. In view of the 2014 elections, this survey acts equally to determine which of the policies defended by the European Parliament are perceived as priorities in the eyes of Europeans, and the values which the institution must defend in priority.

As part of the activities organised by the European Parliament to mark International Women's Day, a seminar on 2 March 2010 chaired by Ms Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Vice-President of the EP, addressed the following issue: 'Towards 2014: What are the links between women and the European Union?'Following the European elections of June 2009, it was important to ask a certain number of fundamental questions when evaluating the outcome: What relationship do women have with the EU and what are their expectations of the EU? What role do they think the European Parliament has, and what role would they like to see it play? What is their relation to politics? And, how did they behave in electoral terms in the European elections?

This survey was conducted one week after the European elections held in June 2009. Over the period between 12 June and 6 July a total of 26 830 European citizens were interviewed in an effort to gain a better insight into the reasons why they had - or had not - voted.

In spring 2008, the Commission and the European Parliament launched a major survey on the European public’s attitude to climate change (see EB 69.2). At the time, the Commission had just brought forward a set of proposals relating to that area, and Parliament had established its Temporary Committee on Climate Change.

This pre-electoral survey was carried out by TNS Opinion within the framework of the contract with the European Parliament as part of the invitation to tender for the "Electoral evening". In comparison to traditional EB/EP surveys also carried out by TNS Opinion for the Eurobarometer, the methodology differs: respondents aged 15 years and above have more face to face interviews for the EB/EP; respondents aged 18 years and above are interviewed by telephone in most countries, and face to face in countries where telephone coverage is not adequate for the pre-electoral survey. Therefore, the comparative results should be analysed bearing in mind these differences in methodology. However they allow us to identify the trends over a year and a half of the survey. Due to legal restrictions, the results related to Italy and Luxembourg will not be published.

On the eve of the European elections, it was important to measure Europeans' perceptions of the EU's actions in the face of the economic and financial crisis.

This survey, conducted via face to face interviews with 27,218 EU citizens (fieldwork mid-January/mid-February), shows a collective concern to the crisis, a demand for more coordinated actions at an EU level and also by strikingly different national interpretations of the role of the euro. It also shows very clear variations on a socio-demographic level: women are more worried and more critical of the euro, along with citizens who left school at 15 years of age or before.

The results of this survey on the elections should be considered in the context of the current international situation. In fact, the survey's fieldwork (January/February) coincides with highly-charged international events: the inauguration of Barack Obama, the launch of his first recovery plan, the situation in Gaza, etc.

To mark Women's Day and in view of the European elections which will take place from 4 - 7 June 2009, two Eurobarometer surveys have been especially dedicated to the attitudes and concerns of women regarding the European Union. A sociodemographic analysis, commissioned by the EP analyses the cumulative results of the EB68, EB69 and EB70 Eurobarometer surveys (autumn 2007 - autumn 2008). The Eurobarometer Flash carried out at the request of the European Parliament and the European Commission focuses specifically on the female electorate on the eve of the 2009 European elections.

The results of this second Eurobarometer dedicated to the 2009 European Elections should be read bearing in mind that the survey was conducted at the height of the economic and financial crisis in October and November 2008. A number of trends are highlighted: concerns of an economic and social nature, already amongst the principal preoccupations since the previous survey in spring in 2008 (EB69), show a large increase. Europeans are more and more preoccupied by their personal situation. On the contrary, concerns of a collective nature show a clear decline: terrorism, immigration and climate change. During the crisis, interest in the European elections is still limited.

The main results of the survey on climate change, jointly commissioned by the European Parliament and the Commission, show Europeans have a real awareness of the problem and are willing to act in a more environmentally responsible way.

This is the first survey devoted to the European Parliament and it shows that it has a positive public image. Although the Parliament, like the other institutions, is not well known, it is considered democratic and is appreciated for its unifying role. Europeans award it an important place within the EU and the majority think the European Parliament is the institution that currently has the greatest decision-making power in the EU. They also think it is the institution that should have the greatest decision-making power.

This Eurobarometer survey (no 68) was carried out in the spring of 2007, two years before the European elections from 4 to 7 June 2009. It reveals that Europeans see the Parliament as the institution with the most power within the EU and the one that would like to have more influence. They are aware of its important legislative role, which is decisive in some cases, but they do not have a very clear idea of how it works. Most of those polled thought that MEPs sit in national delegations rather than being grouped according to their political affinities.