Plenary Insights – April 2022 

Each plenary session, DG Communication provides public opinion data on key topics on the agenda:

• Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 24-25 March 2022/Ukraine: Various surveys demonstrate general approval for the reaction of 'the West' and specifically the EU’s position in this conflict. Findings further suggest general support for the economic sanctions against Russia.
• Report of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: 93% of the people surveyed consider climate change a serious problem. 63% of respondents believe that first of all national governments are responsible for tackling climate change, ahead of business, industry and the EU (Special Eurobarometer on Climate Change).
• Right to repair: Nearly eight in ten respondents (79%) think manufacturer should be required to make it easier to repair digital devices or replace their individual parts (e.g. screens or batteries), with one quarter (25%) saying “Yes, even if the device costs more”, according to the findings of an Eurobarometer survey on “Attitudes towards the Impact of Digitalisation on Daily Lives”. 
• Global approach to research and innovation: Seven in ten (70%) respondents think we should cooperate enthusiastically with the rest of the world and not isolate ourselves, according to a Special Eurobarometer on European citizens’ knowledge and attitudes towards science and technology. The majority of respondents think researchers in China (58%), the United States (57%), and Japan (54%) are ahead of researchers in the EU in making scientific discoveries.
• The situation of marginalised Roma communities in the EU: A majority of Europeans (61%) think discrimination against Roma people is widespread in their country, according to a Eurobarometer survey on “Discrimination in the European Union.” Racial profiling is also widespread across the bloc, a survey by EU Agency for Fundamental Rights found. Police officers searched or asked 34% of people from ethnic minorities for their identity papers, compared with 14% of the general population.