EUROPEAN COMMISSION EUR BAROMETER · EUROPEAN COMMISSION EUR BAROMETER PUBLIC OPINION IN THE...

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

EUR BAROMETERPUBLIC OPINION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Report Number 50

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Release : March 1999 Fieldwork : October – November 1998

Directorate General X Telephone : (32.2) 299.91.72Rue de la Loi 200 (T120 – 4/8) Fax : (32.2) 299.45.77B - 1049 Brussels E-mail : [email protected]

Internet : http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg10/infcom/epo/eb.html

Reproduction is authorized, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged

i

Introducing the Eurobarometer

Eurobarometer public opinion surveys ("standard Eurobarometer surveys") have been conducted on behalf ofthe Directorate-General for Information, Communication, Culture, Audiovisual of the European Commissioneach Spring and Autumn since Autumn 1973. They have included Greece since Autumn 1980, Portugal andSpain since Autumn 1985, the former German Democratic Republic since Autumn 1990 and Austria, Finlandand Sweden from Spring 1995 onwards.

An identical set of questions was asked of representative samples of the population aged fifteen years and overin each Member State. The regular sample in standard Eurobarometer surveys is 1000 people per countryexcept Luxembourg (500) and the United Kingdom (1000 in Great Britain and 300 in Northern Ireland). In orderto monitor the integration of the five new Länder into unified Germany and the European Union, 2000 personshave been sampled in Germany since Eurobarometer 34: 1000 in East Germany and 1000 in West Germany.

In each of the 15 Member States, the survey is carried out by national institutes associated with the "INRA(Europe) European Coordination Office". This network of institutes was selected by tender. All institutes aremembers of the "European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research" (ESOMAR) and comply with itsstandards.

The figures shown in this report for each of the Member States are weighted by sex, age, region and size oflocality. The figures given for the European Union as a whole are weighted on the basis of the adult populationin each country. In certain cases, the total percentage in a table does not always add up exactly to 100%, but anumber very close to it (e.g. 99 or 101), because of rounding. When questions allow for several responses,percentages often add up to more than 100%. Percentages shown in the graphics may display a difference of1% compared to the tables because of the way previously-rounded percentages are added.

This report, which was drawn up by the Public Opinion Analysis Unit (X.A.2 ; Head of Unit : Anna Melich) of theDirectorate-General for Information, Communication, Culture, Audiovisual, is an internal working document ofthe European Commission.

Types of surveys in the Eurobarometer series

The European Commission (Directorate General X) organises general public opinion, specifictarget group, as well as qualitative (group discussion, in-depth interview) surveys in all MemberStates and, occasionally, in third countries. There are three different types of polls available:

• Traditional Standard Eurobarometer with reports published twice a year• Telephone Flash EB, also used for special target group surveys

(e.g. Top Decision Makers)• Qualitative research ("focus groups"; in-depth interviews)• In the near future: Eurobarometer Applicant Countries (replacing the Central and

Eastern EB)

The face-to-face general public standard Eurobarometer polls and the future EB ApplicantCountries surveys, the telephone Flash EB polls and qualitative research serve primarily to carryout surveys for the different Directorates General and comparable special services of theCommission on their behalf and on their account.

The Eurobarometer Website address is :http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg10/infcom/epo/polls.html

ii

Highlights

• The findings presented in this 50th Eurobarometer report, which illustrate the state of publicopinion towards the European Union in the autumn of 1998 and also shed light on thedevelopment of public opinion during the 25 years that the Eurobarometer has been carriedout, can be summarised as follows:

Expectations for 1999

• Thirty-three percent of EU citizens are of the view that their life in general will be better in1999 and 52% think it will be the same. The proportion of EU citizens who believe their life ingeneral will be worse has steadily declined since the early nineties so that only 10% believe itfor 1999.

The process of European integration

• More than half of Europeans (55%) feel that a great deal or a fair amount has been achievedduring the past 50 years in terms of Europen integration. Only 34% feel that very little ornothing at all has been achieved.

• The public nowadays perceives Europe to be progressing at a faster pace than it did in thepast. Conversely, people's desired speed has in recent years been lower than it was whenthe question was first asked in 1986. However, the current desired speed is not as slow as itwas in the autumn of 1993.

• Many Europeans (52%) believe the European Union will play a more important role in theirdaily life at the beginning of the next century and 32% believe it will play the same role.Furthermore, most Europeans would like the EU to play a more important role in their daily life(48%) or believe that it should at least play the same role (27%). There are very few peoplewho believe the European Union will (7%) or should (14%) play a less important role in theirdaily life in the 21st century.

EU Support

• Support for the European Union has increased for the third time in a row. More than half ofthe EU population regards their country's membership as a good thing and around half of thepopulation feels that their country has benefited from EU membership. However, there arelarge variations in support levels between the 15 Member States and between the varioussocio-demographic groups in the population. While men (57%) are still more likely thanwomen (51%) to regard their country's membership to the European Union as a good thing,the gap between the genders is decreasing. Positive responses among the female populationcross the 50% mark for the first time since 1996.

The single currency

• In the autumn of 1998, support for the single currency - which was introduced on 1 January1999 - reached its highest level since the survey began measuring support in 1993. 64% ofEU citizens were in favour of the euro and only 25% opposed it. Support is significantlyhigher in the countries that introduced the euro from the start (70%) than in the 4 "pre-in"countries (42%).

• Over the years, people have become more optimistic about the perceived effects of the euro.While in 1996, 33% of the public still thought that the euro would have more disadvantagesthan advantages this view is now only shared by 28% of EU citizens.

• The large majority of people, both in the countries that have introduced the euro and in the"pre-in" countries, believe that euro notes and coins should be introduced transitionally andthat the period of dual circulation should last as long as is legally possible (i.e. 6 months).

• Eighty-three percent of EU citizens are now able to say that the single currency is called theeuro compared to only 46% in early 1996, when its name had just been decided.

iii

• The proportion of people living in the euro-zone countries who received information about theeuro increased significantly since the spring of 1998. People living in the euro-zone countriesare far more likely to say that they have received information about the euro than people inthe "pre-in" countries (70% vs. 25%).

Enlargement

• Many Europeans respond positively to the idea of enlarging the European Union to includenew European countries. 72% feel that the Union will be more important in the world if itincludes more countries and 64% regard a Union that consists of more member countries as acultural enrichment and believe that a larger Union will guarantee more peace and security.However, the results also reveal that quite a few people are concerned about the economicimplications of enlargement: 47% believe that enlargement will cost their own country moremoney and that their country will receive less financial aid once new countries have joined.

• Nonetheless, economic factors are not the only issues that the public takes into account.There is widespread consensus that new countries can only join the European Union if theyrespect Human Rights and the principles of democracy (94%), if they fight organised crimeand drug trafficking (92%) and if they protect the environment (91%).

Priorities in 1974 and 1998

• In order to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Eurobarometer a question that measuredwhat the most important problem facing the EEC in 1974 was has been repeated on theEB50. While fighting rising prices was top of the list in 1974, replacing the currencies is top ofthe (same) list in 1998.

• In 1998, there is widespread consensus among the European public when it comes toemployment: 92% believe the fight against unemployment should be a priority for theEuropean Union and 89% want the EU to fight poverty and social exclusion. Other prioritiesare the fight against organised crime and drug trafficking, maintaining peace and security inEurope (both 89%) and the environment (86%).

• Following the principle of subsidiarity, EU citizens are most likely to believe the EU shouldtake decisions in areas which transcend national borders like the fight against drugs (72%),foreign policy (71%), scientific and technological research and humanitarian aid (both 70%).

The June 1999 European Parliament elections

• More than 7 in 10 EU citizens intend to vote in the June 1999 European Parliament elections.Voting intentions are highest in Greece (92%) and lowest in Austria (58%).

Perceptions of how the media covers EU affairs

• In comparison to the autumn of 1997, the public is now less likely to feel that the amount ofEU news coverage on the television, the radio or in the daily newspapers is too little. Thepublic is now slightly more likely to believe that the media covers EU affairs in a fair way.

• EU citizens are most likely to consult the media when they look for information about theEuropean Union. 60% say they get their information from the television, 41% say they get itfrom the daily newspapers and 24% say they get it from the radio.

• However, few EU citizens feel they know much about the European Union so that the desirefor more information is widespread: 21% say they really need to know a lot more and 44%would like to have some more information. 32% feel happy with what they already know.

iv

Table of Contents

Page number

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 1

1. The year to come - the expectations of Europeans ................................................................................ 2

1.1. People's expectations of their life in general................................................................................. 21.2. People's expectations of their country's economic situation......................................................... 41.3. People's expectations of their household financial situation......................................................... 61.4. People's expectations of their country's employment situation..................................................... 81.5. People's expectations of their personal job situation .................................................................. 11

2. 25 years of Eurobarometer surveys : have people's perceptions of the European Union changed? ... 13

2.1. The process of European Integration.......................................................................................... 132.2. The evolution of support for European Union membership ........................................................ 162.3. The evolution of the perceived benefit of EU membership ......................................................... 192.4. The evolution of people's attitude towards the continued existence of the EU........................... 372.5. People's priorities in the spring of 1974 - Do they still apply today?........................................... 38

3. Public opinion towards the European Union in 1998 ............................................................................ 41

3.1. Support for European Union membership in 1998...................................................................... 413.2. Benefit from European Union membership in 1998.................................................................... 433.3. People's emotive stance towards the EU in 1998....................................................................... 443.4. The "Euro-Dynamometer" in 1998 .............................................................................................. 473.5. The expected and desired role of the EU in the 21st century...................................................... 493.6. The European Union's priorities in 1998 ..................................................................................... 523.7. Support for joint EU decision-making.......................................................................................... 533.8. Support for key issues................................................................................................................. 563.9. European identity in 1998 ........................................................................................................... 593.10. Awareness and importance of the Council Presidency............................................................... 61

4. Current policy issues: the euro.............................................................................................................. 62

4.1. Support for the single currency ................................................................................................... 624.2. Perceived effects of the euro ...................................................................................................... 654.3. How should notes and coins be introduced in 2002 ................................................................... 674.4. Knowledge and information about the single currency ............................................................... 70

5. Current policy issues: enlargement ....................................................................................................... 83

5.1. Attitudes to enlargement ............................................................................................................. 835.2. Criteria that applicant countries should meet.............................................................................. 855.3. Support for enlargement ............................................................................................................. 88

6. Sources of Information and knowledge levels among EU citizens ....................................................... 90

6.1. Sources of information about the European Union..................................................................... 906.2. The news media and its coverage of EU affairs ......................................................................... 936.3. Knowledge of the European Union ........................................................................................... 1016.4. The need for more information.................................................................................................. 1046.5. Willingness to be pro-active in the search for information ........................................................ 1076.6. Knowledge of languages........................................................................................................... 108

7. The European Parliament ................................................................................................................... 115

7.1. Awareness of the European Parliament through the media ..................................................... 1157.2. Participation in the June 1999 European Parliament elections ................................................ 1187.3. The European Parliament's perceived and desired importance ............................................... 1207.4. Citizens' interests ...................................................................................................................... 124

8. The legacy of the 20th century ............................................................................................................. 128

v

Table of Contents - Annexes

Page

A. Lists

A.1 List of graphs .......................................................................................................................... A1A.2 List of tables ............................................................................................................................ A6A.3 Text in German of the questions and answer categories used in the tables ...................... A11A.4 Explanatory note for table headings .................................................................................... A27

B. Tables................................................................................................................................................. B1

C. Technical Specifications

C.1 Co-operating Agencies and Research Executives ................................................................ C1C.2 Administrative Regional Units ................................................................................................ C2C.3 Sample Specifications ............................................................................................................ C3C.4 Definition and weighted distribution of the socio-demographic variables

used in cross-tabulations........................................................................................................ C6

D. Eurobarometer Surveys on Attitudes of Europeans ....................................................................... D1

REPORT

Standard Eurobarometer 50

1

Introduction

The launching of the Eurobarometer Number 50 has a very special significance for the EuropeanCommission. It means the celebration of the 25th year of existence of this survey instrument.At a rate of two per year, in spring and in autumn, the Eurobarometer reports have been published withoutfailure since 1973.In fact, in these past 25 years, the number of surveys that have been fielded is far higher than 50. Thedemand and needs of the Commission and other users to measure European public opinion in the mostvaried fields has been very important, mainly after the eighties, and several additional Eurobarometers havehad to be launched each season.In some European Parliament electoral years, 1989, 1994 and probably 1999, there has been a post-electoral Eurobarometer in June.Since 1973, a large majority of Directorates General of the European Commission, as well as the services ofthe European Parliament have inserted many varied special studies in the Eurobarometer questionnaires tomeasure opinions and attitudes towards subjects on which they were preparing legislation or conductingawareness campaigns1.National or regional administrations have done the same.Some academic scholars from all over the world, have also inserted their own studies for the development oftheir research on European integration or other subjects.The Eurobarometer is open and designed as a support for decision making, research and information.Its users belong to a very large range of occupations and tasks. First of all, the European Commission andits officials, the officials of all the other European institutions and the Members of the European Parliament.Outside the European Institutions, the main users of the Eurobarometer are to be found in national andregional public administrations, public and private services, universities and research centres and the writtenand audio-visual press.The Commission is very grateful to the fieldwork coordination polling institutes : Faits et Opinions from 1973to 1989 and INRA (ECO) from 1989 onwards, and all their associated institutes in the Member countries, forthe very important and careful work done to get the Eurobarometer survey data and special reports in themost proper way.Our gratitude also goes to the Social Science Data Archives, in Europe and in the United States2, for theway they assume the important task of distributing clean and documented Eurobarometer survey data to thenumerous interested researchers.All the different users greatly contribute with their analysis and use of Eurobarometer data to theadvancement of awareness, knowledge, research and theory on European integration.The European Commission is happy to put the appropriate tools at their disposal and welcomes theirsuggestions for improvement as we embark upon another period of rich collaboration.

Anna MelichHead of Unit "Public Opinion Analysis", DGX

1 A recent bibliography of the main books and papers on research conducted with Eurobarometer data is available onthe "European Public Opinion" website or by mail order.

2 Official depositories of Eurobarometer data are the Zentralarchiv für Empirische Sozialforschung in Cologne,Germany, and the Institute of Social Research in the University of Michigan, USA.


2

1. The year to come - the expectations of Europeans

In the autumn of 1973, when the Eurobarometer was first fielded, two in ten people living in the 9 MemberStates of what was then still known as the European Community were very satisfied and six in ten were fairlysatisfied with their life in general3. Over the years, the general feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction hasremained remarkably stable so that when the measurement was last taken at the end of 19944, 8 in 10Europeans once again reported feeling satisfied.

Since 1980, the Eurobarometer has included an end-of-the-year question which initially only measuredpeople's expectations for the year to come in terms of their life in general. Later, other expectations, relatingfor instance to the economic and employment situation in their respective countries, were added. Whereasthe life satisfaction question is more a measure of people's views about society in general and is thusrelatively consistent, the end-of-the-year question is a more personal measure and is therefore more volatile.

1.1. People's expectations of their life in general

At the end of 1980, only 20% of European Community5 citizens believed their life in general would be betterin the year to come. With 43% of Europeans expecting their life to get worse, the mood was in fact quitepessimistic. After 1984 and until the early nineties, optimism dominated. Although a drop in optimism wasnoted in 1992 and 1993, the proportion of Europeans who believe their life will be worse in the year to comehas since then steadily declined, reaching a low of 10% in 1998.

3 The Member States were Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and theNetherlands. Until 1975, the Eurobarometer did not survey Northern Ireland.

4 EB42 (fieldwork from November 28 to December 31, 1994).5 Apart from the 9 countries that were members of the European Community at the end of 1980, the survey included

Greece, which joined at the beginning of 1981.


3

The time-trend points to a strong relationship between how people feel about the year to come and theeconomic situation of their country. During the economic boom of the eighties, people's expectations weregenerally favourable, whereas the mini-recession in the early nineties brought about a considerable shift inpeople's expectations.

454443

413938

3635

33

323130

25222221

5041

504952

354952

52

435960

6665

6061

38

575

241210

10

17996

101312

SI

FINIRL

EGRUK

F

EU15

PNLDK

LABD

% Better % Same % Worse

Expectations for 1999: Life in general

Percentage 'don't know' not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 1.1bSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

Looking at the individual country results shows people in Sweden as being most likely to believe that 1999will be better (45%), followed by people in Italy (44%), Finland (43%) and Ireland (41%). Nearly a quarter ofpeople in Greece believes 1999 will be worse, followed by 17% of people in Portugal. However, in bothcountries people are now more likely to hold optimistic expectations than they were last year. The UK andIreland are the only countries where, in comparison to last year, people are both less likely to be optimisticand more likely to be pessimistic about the year to come. (Table 1.1a)

People's expectations for the year to come not only vary from country to country but also depend on anumber of socio-demographic factors. While there are no differences between the genders, the various agegroups in the population think quite differently. The youngest age group, that is people aged 15 to 24, ismost likely to think that life in general will be better (52%) and least likely to think it will be worse (5%) in1999. With age, people become less optimistic and more pessimistic: among the oldest age group, that ispeople aged 55 and over, only 18% say their life will be better and 16% say their life will be worse in 1999.

Age affects how people within the various categories of the economic activity scale respond to the question.52% of students believe 1999 will be better, compared to only 17% of retired people. However, there aresome differences that can not only be explained by age: manual workers (35%) are significantly less likelythan white-collar employees (43%) and self-employed people (41%) to believe that 1999 will be better.

Age also inter-relates with education. Since access to post-primary education has become more widespreadover time, people who left school aged 15 or younger tend to be older than people who stayed in full-timeeducation until the age of 20 or older. The first group is significantly less likely (23%) than the latter group(42%) to believe that 1999 will be better. We have already seen that students are most likely to beoptimistic6.

6 See Appendix C.4 for an explanation of the coding of the demographic variables.


4

Age and education also affect how people with varying levels of support for the European Union respond tothe question. Young and well educated people tend to be more likely than older and less well educatedpeople to consider their country's membership to the EU as a good thing. Thus, we find that 41% of peoplewho support their country's membership believe 1999 will be better, compared to only 24% of people whoregard their country's membership as a bad thing. (Table 1.1b)

1.2. People's expectations of their country's economic situation

Since 1990, the end-of-the-year question has also measured people's expectations of their country'seconomy in the year to come. At the EU-total level, people were most optimistic at the end of 1994, when36% indicated that they expected the following year to be better. As indicated earlier, this rise in optimismoccurred when Europe came out of the mini-recession of the early nineties. The two most recentmeasurements show a renewed rise in optimism in comparison to the two previous years.

30%33%

20%24%

36%

19% 17%23% 22%

-34%-27%

-48%

-40%

-26%

-39%-42%

-32% -31%

End 1990 End 1991 End 1992 End 1993 End 1994 End 1995 End 1996 End 1997 End 1998

0%

20%

40%

60%

-20%

-40%

-60%

Expectations for "the year to come":Country's economic situation

Note : End 1990 - End 1995: EU12

*

*

Better

Worse* Change to the question from previous years: "same", is no longer a spontaneous reply, but is clearly offered

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 1.2aSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

Percentage 'don't know' and 'same' not shown

Significant differences are noted between the 15 Member States when it comes to people's expectations oftheir country's economic situation in 1999. In Spain and Ireland, more than 3 in 10 people expect thesituation to get better and the proportion of people who believe next year will be worse is lowest (10% and14%, respectively). Greece is the only country where more than half of the population believes 1999 will beworse (55%), although widespread pessimism is also noted in Belgium (45%), Denmark, the UK (both 41%),the Netherlands and Italy (both 35%).


5

3735

2828

24232323

22

191515

131312

9

4741

4944

3542

3833

38

4657

283435

4945

1014

1822

3029

2735

31

2921

5545

4135

41

EIRLFIN

SDFPI

EU15

AL

GRB

UKNLDK


Expectations for 1999:Country's economic situation


There are also significant shifts within many countries in comparison to last year. In Germany and Spain,people are now considerably more likely to be optimistic than last year, with the proportion of people sayingthe economic situation will be better increasing by 11 and 10 percentage points respectively. In Germany,only 30% believe next year will be worse economically compared to 50% at the end of 1997. Other countrieswhere the mood is significantly more optimistic are Austria, Luxembourg and France. In these countriesdrops of at least 10 percentage points are noted in the proportion of people who believe the economicsituation will get worse. In many of the Northern European countries, on the other hand, the mood is clearlymore pessimistic. In Denmark, the UK and the Netherlands, negative responses rose by 27, 24 and 18percentage points, respectively. In Sweden and Ireland, the negative responses increased by 8 percentagepoints. Less optimism is also noted in Finland, although the drop in positive responses is more offset by arise in neutral responses than by a rise in negative responses. (Table 1.2a)

Men are somewhat more likely than women to believe the economic situation in their country will be better in1999 (24% and 20%, respectively). Women are somewhat more likely to believe it will be worse (32%,compared to 30% of men) but also somewhat more likely to lack an opinion (10%, compared to 7% of men).Both sexes are equally likely to think that 1999 will be the same (both 38%).

Again we find significant differences between the various age groups. 27% of people aged 15 to 24 think1999 will be better, followed by 26% of people aged 25-39, 21% of people aged 40 to 54 and 18% of peopleaged 55 and over. Among the latter group 36% believe 1999 will be worse, compared to only 24% of peopleaged 15 to 24. People aged 40 to 54 are most likely to think that 1999 will be the same (40%).

An analysis of the economic activity scale shows that students are most likely to be optimistic (29%),followed by managers (25%) and white collar employees (24%), while people who look after the home (18%)and retired people (19%) are least likely to be optimistic.

In terms of education, we find that 26% of people who stayed in full-time education until the age of 20 andover believe 1999 will be better, compared to around 20% of people who stayed in full time education untilthe age of 19 or younger.


6

Once again, there are clear differences between supporters and opponents of the European Union. 29% ofpeople who believe their country's membership to the EU is a good thing believe the economic situation intheir country will be better in 1999, compared to 15% of people who consider EU membership as neithergood nor bad and 11% of people who consider it a bad thing. (Table 1.2b)

1.3. People's expectations of their household financial situation

Another item that was added to the end-of-the-year question in 1990 measures what people expect tohappen in terms of their household financial situation in the year to come.

Expectations for "the year to come":Household financial situation

32% 30%22% 22% 25% 22% 22% 25% 26%

-17% -18%-26% -24% -20% -20% -20% -16% -14%

End 1990 End 1991 End 1992 End 1993 End 1994 End 1995 End 1996 End 1997 End 1998

0%

20%

40%

60%

-20%

-40%

-60%

*

*

Worse

Better

Note : End 1990 - End 1995: EU12

* Change to the question from previous years: "same", is no longer a spontaneous reply, but is clearly offered



At the EU level, a rise in levels of optimism is noted in recent years, with the proportion of people believingtheir household financial situation will be worse being the lowest measured to date.

The overwhelming feeling among Europeans is that the household financial situation will remain the same in1999 as it was in 1998. In every single Member State, this is the most frequently expressed expectation,ranging from 66% in Luxembourg to 49% in the UK and 48% in Greece. Furthermore, with the exception ofGreece, the proportion of people who believe that their financial situation will improve is higher than theproportion of people who believe it will get worse. Only 6% of people in Spain and Luxembourg believe thelatter will happen. In all other countries bar one, less than 2 in 10 people believe 1999 will be worse, Greecebeing the only country where negative expectations are voiced more frequently (29%).


7

373332

2929282828

26

252423

2121

1818

5358

5555

5361

5649

56

6254

6662

4862

60

86

121115

99

18

14

1216

613

291417

SE

NLIRL

FFIN

IUK

EU15

DKPLA

GRBD


Expectations for 1999:Household financial situation


There are minor shifts in comparison to last year within some of the countries, although the mood is quitesimilar to last year's. In Luxembourg, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Germany and France, levels ofoptimism are higher than they were last year. In these countries, increases in the proportion of peoplesaying the financial situation of the household will get better or decreases in the proportion of people whobelieve it will get worse of at least 6 percentage points are recorded. Ireland, the UK and Denmark are theonly countries where the mood is less optimistic than it was last year. Drops of 9 and 7 percentage points,respectively, in the proportion of people who believe the financial situation of their household will get betterare recorded in these two countries. (Table 1.3a)

The demographic analyses show that men are somewhat more likely than women to be optimistic (28% and24%, respectively). Optimism decreases by age (38% of people aged 15 to 24 believe their householdfinancial situation will be better in 1999, compared to 10% of people aged 55 and over). In terms ofeducation, the data show that people who are still studying or who left school aged 20 or over are twice aslikely as people who left full-time education aged 15 or younger to think that 1999 will be better (34% and17%, respectively). The analyses of the economic activity scale shows that a third of unemployed peoplebelieve their household financial situation will be better in 1999 while 18% think it will be worse. At least 3 in10 managers (33%), employees, self-employed people (both 32%) and manual workers (30%) believe 1999will be better, compared to only 1 retired person in 10.

Supporters of the European Union are again more optimistic than opponents, with 32% of people whobelieve their country's membership to the EU is a good thing believing that 1999 will be better, compared toonly 18% of people who regard their country's membership as a bad thing. (Table 1.3b)


8

1.4. People's expectations of their country's employment situation

The survey results indicate that 23% of Europeans expect the employment situation in their country to getbetter in 1999, while 35% expect it to get worse. 56% expect the situation to remain the same. Over thepast two years, Europeans have been significantly more likely to have optimistic expectations than in 1995and 1996, although optimism is still less widespread than it was when the question was first asked at the endof 1994.

Expectations for "the year to come":Country's employment situation

27%

18% 16%

28%23%

-30%

-44%-48%

-14%

-35%

End 1994 End 1995 End 1996 End 1997 End 1998

0%

20%

40%

60%

-20%

-40%

-60%

*

*

Worse

Better

Note : End 1990 - End 1995: EU12




Data from EUROSTAT shows that the unemployment rate has gone down in 13 of the 15 Member States ofthe European Union since the end-of-the-year question relating to employment was last asked on theAutumn 1997 Eurobarometer. In Austria unemployment levels have stayed at 4.4%, while they rosemarginally (+0.2%) in Italy.


9

UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, SEASONALLY ADJUSTED7

B DK D GR E F IRL I

1993.10 9.4 9.7 8.4 NA 23.7 12.3 15.4 10.8

1994.10 10.1 7.6 8.2 NA 23.9 12.1 14.5 11.8

1995.11 10.0 6.6 8.5 NA 22.7 11.8 12.4 11.9

1996.11 9.4 6.1 9.2 NA 21.7 12.4 11.0 12.1

1997.11 9.1 5.1 10.2 NA 20.2 12.3 9.8 12.1

1998.10 8.6 4.2 9.4 NA 18.4 11.8 8.6 12.3

L NL A P FIN S UK EU15

1993.10 2.9 6.9 NA 6.2 18.9 10.4 10.4 11.2

1994.10 3.7 7.1 NA 7.2 17.7 9.4 9.1 11.0

1995.11 2.9 7.0 4.0 7.4 16.2 9.3 8.6 10.8

1996.11 2.8 6.1 4.3 7.1 15.2 10.0 7.9 10.8

1997.11 2.5 4.6 4.4 6.5 11.9 9.0 6.5 10.5

1998.10 2.2 3.6 4.4 4.5 11.0 7.5 6.2 9.8

In Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and France, the positive labour market developments are mirrored bybroadened public optimism when comparing this year's results to last year's. In Germany, in particular,public confidence in the labour market is now clearly more widespread than it was at the end of 1997. Theproportion of people who believe the year to come will be better rose by 14 percentage points, while theproportion of people who believe the year to come will be worse dropped by 26 percentage points. Althoughunemployment levels are still quite high and many surveys indicate that unemployment is the number oneconcern for Germans, it may well be that the change in government has given the German public a renewedsense of hope that the employment situation will improve in the year to come.

In a number of other countries, optimism is, in comparison to last year, considerably less common, despitethe drop in unemployment levels. This is particularly true in the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland andSweden. Last year's turmoil on the world market and the possibility that this may slow down the Europeaneconomy is certainly one of the reasons why confidence about the employment situation in these countries isnow less widespread. Another likely contributing factor in the UK, Denmark and Sweden - countries that arenot participating in the euro from the start - is people's concern that being outside of the euro-zone may turnpotential investors away. (Table 1.4a)

7 Source: EUROSTAT News Release N° 1/99 (figures for Greece are not available). EUROSTAT uses the ILOdefinition of unemployment for its estimations.


10

The country by country analyses show that the Irish (44%) are most likely to believe the employmentsituation in their country will get better in 1999, followed by the Finns (37%). In these countries, togetherwith Spain, Sweden and Denmark, there are more people who believe the situation will get better than thereare people who believe the situation will get worse. The Dutch are most likely to believe the situation willremain the same, with equal proportions (26%) thinking the situation will either get better or worse. In allother countries, there are more people who believe the employment situation in 1999 will get worse thanthere are people who believe it will get better. People in Greece are most likely to be pessimistic (60%),followed by people in the UK (48%) and Belgium (47%).

4437

3533

302726

23

2322

1917

1515

1311

3844

4240

4336

45

34

3434

3035

2829

3727

1116

162325

3226

35

3534

4035

4748

4360

IRLFIN

ES

DKF

NL

EU15

DLI

PB

UKA

GR


Expectations for 1999:Country's employment situation


The expectations for their country's employment situation in 1999 do not differ significantly between men andwomen. As was already noted for the 3 previous expectations, levels of optimism are highest among theyoungest age group and go down by age (from 30% to 17% for people aged 55 and over). The same is truefor education: 31% of people who are still studying believe the employment situation in their country willimprove, compared to only 19% of people who stayed in full-time education until the age of 15 or younger.On the economic activity scale, we find managers and white collar employees most likely to be optimistic(both 25%) while retired people and people who look after the home are least likely to be optimistic (both19%). 24% of unemployed people believe the employment situation in their country will be better in 1999,34% believe it will be worse and 37% believe it will be the same.

The cleavage between supporters and opponents of the European Union is also present with thisexpectation. 29% of people who believe their country's membership is a good thing believe 1999 will bebetter, compared to 14% of people who regard their country's membership as a bad thing. (Table 1.4b)


11

1.5. People's expectations of their personal job situation

As with previous surveys, the data indicate that EU citizens are rather more positive about their personal jobsituation than they are about the more general picture in their country8. 22% expect their own job situation toget better and 62% expect it to remain the same. Only 7% of Europeans expect it to get worse in 1999, thelowest figure obtained since the Eurobarometer began measuring this expectation at the end of 1994. Atthat time, people's expectations were more extreme, with a larger segment of the population expecting it toget better (28%) or worse (14%).

Expectations for "the year to come":Personal job situation

28%21% 20% 23% 22%

-14%-9% -11% -8% -7%

End 1994 End 1995 End 1996 End 1997 End 1998

0%

20%

40%

60%

-20%

-40%

-60%

*

*

Worse

Better

Note : End 1990 - End 1995: EU12




Spain tops the list in the proportion of people who believe their personal job situation will get better in 1999(31%), followed by Sweden (29%) and Italy (27%). While the feeling that 1999 will get better is lowest inGermany (15%) and Belgium (16%), the mood in these two countries is far from pessimistic. The largemajority of people in these two countries believe their personal job situation will remain the same (68% and64%, respectively) and only around 1 person in 10 believes it will get worse. The incidence of pessimisticexpectations is below 10% in all other countries, with the exception of Greece where 19% of the peoplebelieve their personal job situation will get worse in 1999. People's expectations of their personal jobsituation have generally not changed significantly over the past year. (Table 1.5a)

8 51% of the people interviewed for this wave of the Eurobarometer survey are in active employment. Unemployedpeople are underrepresented: around 6% of the respondents report being unemployed at the time of fieldwork,compared to the official unemployment rate of 10%.


12

3129

27

2525

25

2222

2120

20

1918

1716

15

5965

58

6259

54

7062

6270

57

5868

5664

68

53

5

66

8

47

75

19

97

510

9

ES

I

FIRL

NL

DKEU15

UKFIN

GR

PA

LB

D


Expectations for 1999:Personal job situation


The demographic analyses show that men are significantly more likely than women to be optimistic abouttheir personal job situation (26% and 19%, respectively), although levels of pessimism are equally low forboth sexes (8% and 7%, respectively). 41% of people aged 15 to 24 are optimistic, compared to only 6% ofpeople aged 55 and over, the latter age group being most likely to think nothing will change (76%). Levels ofpessimism do not differ widely between the age groups and range from 4% among the youngest age groupto 9% among people aged 40 to 54. Among the various economic activity categories, we find thatunemployed people are both most likely to be optimistic (36%) and pessimistic (13%). 36% of people whoare still studying believe their personal job situation will be better in 1999, compared to only 13% of peoplewho left school aged 15 or younger. Levels of pessimism differ far less, ranging from 4% among students to9% among people who left school aged 15 or younger.

Again, we find clear differences between supporters and opponents of the European Union. 27% of peoplewho believe their country's membership to the European Union is a good thing believe their personal jobsituation will be better in 1999, compared to 17% of people who regard their country's membership as a badthing. (Table 1.5b)


13

2. 25 years of Eurobarometer surveys : have people's perceptions ofthe European Union changed?

In order to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Eurobarometer, this chapter is dedicated to the analysisof how people's attitudes towards the European Union have evolved over the past quarter century. Some ofthe measurements go back to the very beginning in 1973, when the first Eurobarometer survey was carriedout. As the survey matured over the years, other important questions were added. The last question wediscuss in this chapter, which looks at what people consider to be the most important problem for the EU,dates back to 1974. This is the second time we repeat it, the first time being five years ago when the EBexisted 20 years.

2.1. The process of European Integration

The 25th anniversary of the Eurobarometer more or less coincides with the 50th anniversary of the birth of theEuropean project. To measure people's perceptions of this milestone, the following question was asked:

"The process of European integration started 50 years ago. During this time, would you say that agreat deal, a fair amount, very little or nothing at all has been achieved in terms of integration?"

On average, 11% of Europeans believe a great deal has been achieved during the past 50 years and afurther 43% feel a fair amount has been achieved. Around a third of the European public feels that very little(29%) or nothing at all (5%) has been achieved.

75 7570

66 66 64 6360 59 57 55 53 52 51

42 41

11

18 17 17

29

22

31 33 33 32 3431

39

32

4348

L DK E IRL GR P NL F FIN D EU15 S B A UK I0

20

40

60

80

100%

% A great deal + a fair amount % Very little + nothing at all

European Integration: How much has been achievedduring the past 50 years?

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 2.1Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

Percentage 'don't know' not shown


14

At 75%, people in Luxembourg and Denmark are most likely to feel that a great deal or a fair amount hasbeen achieved in terms of European integration, followed by people in Spain (70%), Ireland and Greece(both 66%). The only two countries where less than half of the people hold the view that a great deal or afair amount has been achieved are Italy (41%) and the UK (42%). It is rather surprising to find the generallypro-European Italians at the bottom of the list, something which should be interpreted as their way of sayingthat not enough has been achieved during these past 50 years9. (Table 2.1a)

The demographic analyses show that men are more likely than women to feel that a great deal or a fairamount has been achieved (58% and 52%, respectively). Women are significantly more likely than men tolack an opinion on this issue (15%, compared to 8% of men). 57% of people aged 15 to 54 believe a greatdeal or a fair amount has been achieved, compared to 50% of people aged 55 and over. The feeling thatvery little or nothing at all has been achieved tends to increase with age (29% of people aged 15 to 24 holdthis opinion, compared to 37% of people aged 55 and over). Education influences how people feel aboutthis issue, there being a 20 percentage point gap in the number of positive responses between people whostayed in school until the age of 20 or older (65%) and people who left school by the age of 15 or younger(45%). Analysis of the economic activity scale shows that managers (69%) are most likely to feel that agreat deal or a fair amount has been achieved, followed by white-collar employees (61%). Less than 50% ofpeople who look after the house (48%), unemployed people and retired people (both 49%) share this view.The proportion of don't know responses varies significantly among the socio-demographic groups in thepopulation and ranges from 5% of people who stayed in school until the age of 20 or older to 18% of peoplewho look after the home. (Table 2.1b)

The following table shows that there is clear disagreement between supporters and opponents of theEuropean Union on this issue.

Relationship between support for the European Union and attitudes to howmuch has been achieved during the past 50 years

Membership to the European Union is:

a good thing neither good nor bad a bad thingAchievement duringpast 50 years:

% % %

Great deal/fair amount 68 44 34

Very little/nothing at all 25 43 56

Don't know 7 12 10

Total 100 99 100

Since 1986, the Eurobarometer has measured public opinion with regard to the speed of Europeanintegration. The following question has been asked at regular intervals:

"In your opinion, what is the current speed of building Europe? Please look at these figures (showcard). N°1 is standing still, N° 7 is running as fast as possible. Choose the one which bestcorresponds with your opinion of the current speed of building Europe?

And which corresponds best to the speed you would like? (show card)"10

9 See Chapter 3, section 5.10 Until 1997, the introductory text was worded as follows: "In your opinion, how is the European Union, the European

unification advancing nowadays?"


15

As the graph below shows, the public now perceives Europe to be progressing faster than it did in previousyears. Conversely, people's desired speed has been lower in recent years than it was in the beginning,although it is currently not as low as in October 1993, when the average desired speed was 4.4 on a scale of1 to 7. Consequently, the gap between the desired and current speed is now three times smaller than it wasin 1986.

The "Euro-Dynamometer"(EU12/EU15 average on 7-point scale - trend)

1986Oct

1987Oct

1990Oct

1992Mar

1993May

1993Oct

1994Apr

1994Dec

1995May

1995May

1995Dec

1996Feb

1996Dec

1997Oct

1998Oct

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Current Desired

3.4

5.5

4.9

5.4

3.4

5.0

3.93.8

5.1

3.53.6

4.4

5.0

3.43.6

4.8

2.02.1** 1.1 1.1 1.6 0.8 1.6 1.2 1.4

4.9

3.5

4.8

3.5

1.3

EU15

1.4

4.8

3.4

EU12

3.4

4.7

1.3

Europe's ProgressPerceived current speed, desired speed

1 = Stand still7 = As fast as possible

** Scale-value difference: "desired" minus "current"* percentage 'don't know' not shown

3.5

4.6

1.1

4.7

3.8

0.9

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig 2.2aSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

0.7

4.7

4.0

If we compare the 1998 results with those obtained in 1986, we find that the perceived speed at whichEuropean integration is progressing has increased in each of the 12 countries that belonged to the EuropeanEconomic Community (EEC) at that time11. The largest increases are noted in Luxembourg (1.4), WestGermany (1.3), Ireland and Denmark (both 1.2). In Greece (0.1) and Italy (0.2), the increases in theperceived current speed are lowest. While the desired speed decreased most in the UK (-1.2) and WestGermany (-1.1), decreases are noted in each of the 12 countries. The smallest shift is once again recordedin Greece (-0.1), followed by Spain, Ireland and Denmark (all -0.2). (Tables 2.2a+b)

11 Since Germany was not yet unified in 1986, the Eurobarometer survey was not carried out in the former GermanDemocratic Republic. Hence, the 1986-1998 comparison that follows applies only to the West GermanBundesländer.


16

43,9

3,73,5

4,13,7

4,53,6

4,83,6

4,13,5

4,43

43,4

3,93,4

3,93,2

4,33

3,83,3

4,33,1

5,85,9

5,66,1

5,55,8

5,55,7

55,2

4,75,5

4,75,4

4,85,5

4,65,3

4,65,1

4,35,4

45,2

44,2

GR

I

P

E

IRL

F

L

EU12

B

NL

D (west)

UK

DK

CURRENT SPEED DESIRED SPEED

Average current speed in 1998

Average current speed in 1986

Average desired speed in 1998

Average desired speed in 1986

Source: Eurobarometer 50.0 - Fieldwork: Oct / Nov 1998Eurobarometer 26 - Fieldwork: Oct / Nov 1986

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 2.2b

The "Euro-Dynamometer"- Europe's progressPerceived current speed, desired speed in

1998 and 1986

2.2. The evolution of support for European Union membership

The most popular indicator of EU support, which was conceived in 1973, measures whether people thinktheir country's membership to the European Union is a good thing, a bad thing or neither good nor bad. In1973, support for the EEC stood at 56% and opposition at 11%, with 20% choosing the middle option12.Twenty-five years later, the situation is remarkably similar: 54% of citizens from the 15 European UnionMember States now regard their country's membership as a good thing, 12% see it as a bad thing and 26%perceive it as neither good nor bad. While this may give the impression that public opinion remained stableover the years, the graph below depicts a different reality.

12 In 1973, the following countries belonged to the EEC: Belgium, Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, France,Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.


17

During the years that the Community consisted of 9 countries, that is from 1973 to 1980, support fluctuatedbetween a high of 63%, measured in the autumn of 1975, and a low of 53%, measured in the spring of 1976,the spring of 1978 and the autumn of 1980. Although support for EEC membership was obtained from morethan half of the public during these early years, public opinion was still somewhat unstable as support levelsjumped up and down from one measurement to the next without the occurrence of any significant events13.

The next decade, during which the Community expanded to include Greece, Spain and Portugal14, is markedby a far less volatile public opinion, with support for membership increasing from 50% in 1981 to 65% in1987. In the spring of 1988 support dropped significantly in 9 of the 12 Member States, namelyPortugal (-15), West Germany (-13), Luxembourg, the UK (both -9), Greece, France (both -7), Belgium, Italyand the Netherlands (all -6), bringing the average support level down to 58%. This drop - possiblyrepresenting public anxiety concerning the reform of both the Community's financial system and the commonagricultural policy, which was agreed in February 1988 - turned out to be only temporary. In the autumn of1988, support levels rose to 66% and until the end of the eighties around 2 in 3 citizens supported theircountry's membership.

In the spring of 1991, support levels reached an all-time high of 72%. The economic well-being ofEuropeans was high and unemployment levels were low during this period. Furthermore, people werelooking forward to the advantages they would soon receive from the forthcoming European "single market".In Germany, the significant surge in support levels can in part be explained by the euphoria that existedfollowing the country's reunification. Support was particularly widespread among the citizens of the formerDemocratic Republic of Germany who have been included in the Eurobarometer sample from 1990 onwards.Unfortunately, the sense of optimism caused by the reunification was short-lived and this affected people'sperceptions of the European Community. In East Germany, support levels dropped from 87% in the autumnof 1990 to 55% in the autumn of 1992; in West Germany, they fell from 69% to 57% during this period.

13 Data from 1973 to 1980 can be found in the Eurobarometer Trends Report (1973-1994).14 Greece joined in 1981; Spain and Portugal joined in 1986.


18

The mid-nineties clearly represent the period when public support for the European Union was at itsweakest. The Gulf War, the economic crisis and the high unemployment levels that followed, the debate onthe Maastricht Treaty, the war in Yugoslavia, the inclusion of three relatively euro-sceptic nations and theBSE crisis are but some of the reasons which help explain why support dropped from 72% in 1991 to 46% inthe spring of 1997. The late-nineties have seen popularity levels slowly but consistently increase. In thespring of 1998, support levels rose to above 50% for the first time since 1995 and the positive trend thatstarted in the autumn of 1997 continues with 54% of citizens now saying that their country's membership tothe European Union is a good thing. (See also individual country graphs, fig. 2.5a)

Next we look at the extent to which current levels of support for membership differ from the levels measuredin 1973 in the 9 countries that have been members since the start of the Eurobarometer.

56

6763

69

42

5661 63

57

31

79 77 75

68

56 54 52 5147

37

IRL L NL I DK EU9 F West D B UK0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100%

Autumn 1973 Autumn 1998

Support for EEC / EU membership% saying membership is "a good thing"

in autumn 1973 and autumn 1998

Source: Eurobarometer - TrendStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 2.3b

*

* 1973 results forGreat Britain only

As the graph above shows, the largest positive difference between support levels in 1973 and 1998 is foundin Ireland (+23). 79% of the Irish now see their country's membership to the EU as a good thing, compared to56% in 1973. Positive shifts are also recorded in Denmark (+14), the Netherlands (+12), Luxembourg (+10)and the UK (+6). In West Germany (-12), Belgium (-10) and France (-9), large negative differences arenoted between 1973 and 1998. Italy is the only country where levels of public support for membership arethe same in 1998 as they were in 1973, with 69% and 68% respectively believing their country's membershipis a good thing. (Table 2.3)


19

2.3. The evolution of the perceived benefit of EU membership

Another long-standing question, introduced in 1983, measures whether people feel their country hasbenefited from membership. Back in 1983, 52% of the people living in the 10 Member States of the EECbelieved their country had benefited, compared to 25% who felt their country had not benefited. Nowadays,public opinion is slightly more divided on this issue: on average, 49% of the citizens from the 15 EU MemberStates feel their country has benefited while 31% hold the view that their country has not benefited. 2 in 10citizens are unable to make a judgement, which is very similar to the proportion of "don't know" responsesobtained in 1973 (23%).

The analyses of how the benefit question has evolved over time will be done separately for each countrybecause people's responses are influenced by a number of factors which vary from country to country.Firstly, the extent to which people can judge whether their country has benefited or not depends on how longit has been a member of the EU. Secondly, people's assessment is dependent on the size of the country inwhich they live. Thirdly, in some countries there is more of a tendency than in others to base theassessment solely on economic factors.


20

The following graph depicts the proportion of people who feel their country has benefited from membershipin 1983 and 1998. The graph only includes the 10 Member States that formed the Community in 1983, asthese are the countries where this comparison can be made.

56

44

51

7478

54

69

52

59

49

32

85

7670 69 67

53 51 4944 42

37

IRL GR DK L NL F I EU10 B West D UK0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100%

Spring 1983 Autumn 1998

Benefit from EEC / EU membership% saying their country has benefited

in spring 1983 and autumn 1998


The largest positive difference beween 1983 and 1998 in the proportion of people who feel their country hasbenefited is noted in Greece (+32), followed by Ireland (+29) and Denmark (+19). The first two countrieshave always been large net recipients of EU funds. This is, however, not the case for Denmark. The Danes,who have become quite knowledgeable of EU affairs over time, might have become more positive becausethe range of benefits EU membership brings with it has broadened substantially since 198315. The largestnegative difference is noted in Italy (-18), followed by Belgium (-15) and the Netherlands (-11). Lesssignificant differences are noted in the remaining 4 countries. (Table 2.4)

Except for Austria , Finland and Sweden , where it is still too early to discern a trend, the evolution over timein each of the countries is as follows:

Belgium : The proportion of people who believe their country has benefited rose in the early eighties andwas highest throughout the mid-eighties, reaching 70% in 1986 and 1989. Since 1995, less than 50% ofBelgians believe their country has benefited.

Denmark : After an initial peak in 1986 (61%), positive responses stabilised at just over 50% during theremainder of the eighties. While a high of 73% was recorded in 1992, levels have fluctuated between 60%and 70% ever since with the exception of 1996 (55%).

15 Eurobarometer data from 1996 (EB 46) indicates, for instance, that awareness of the new rights citizens obtainedthrough the Maastricht Treaty is high in Denmark.


21

Germany : Prior to the reunification of Germany, public opinion fluctuated from one measurement to thenext, with on average, around 50% of West Germans feeling that their country had benefited. Because ofthe initial widespread optimism among East Germans, the average for Germany as a whole was at a high(61%) in the autumn of 1990. Apart from a blip in 1994, a downward trend in the proportion of positiveresponses has been observed ever since.

Greece : While the early years are marked by a sense of undecisiveness, public conviction that their countryhas benefited steadily increased during the eighties and early nineties, reaching a high of 79% in 1990 and1993. In 1994 and 1995, a slight downward trend occurred but this has since reversed.

Spain : When Spain first joined in 1986 only 9% of people felt their country had benefited and it wasn't until1989 that this view was taken on by more than half of the population. Although public convinction of thebenefits of membership declined between 1992 and 1995, positive responses have steadily increased since.

France : Public opinion has been less volatile than in some of the other countries, with the proportion ofpositive responses fluctuating between 60% (spring 1987) and 39% (spring 1994). However, the data dopoint to a downward trend in the early nineties and an upward trend more recently.

Ireland : Since 1989, between 80% and 90% of the public have felt that their country has benefited.

Italy : The view that Italy has benefited increased significantly in the early years, reaching a high of 75% inthe autumn of 1988. Since then, Italians have become less and less convinced, although the level ofpositive responses has consistently been above (or on par with) the EC/EU average.

Luxembourg : The proportion of people who believe their country has benefited has been high and relativelystable over the years.

The Netherlands : As in Luxembourg, the proportion of people who believe their country has benefited hasbeen quite high and stable.

Portugal : The proportion of positive responses increased substantially between 1986 and 1990 when publicopinion stabilised at 82%. In recent years, around 70% of the people believe their country has benefitedfrom EU membership.

The UK : Throughout the period of measurement, the proportion of people who feel that their country hasbenefited has oscillated between 30% and 50% without there being a clear trend over time in any onedirection. (See country level graphs 2.5b)


22

BELGIUM


23

DENMARK


24

GERMANY


25

GREECE


26

SPAIN


27

FRANCE


28

IRELAND


29

ITALY


30

LUXEMBOURG


31

THE NETHERLANDS


32

AUSTRIA


33

PORTUGAL


34

FINLAND


35

SWEDEN


36

UNITED KINGDOM


37

2.4. The evolution of people's attitude towards the continued existence of the EU

The following measure of public opinion towards the European Union dates back to the very beginning:

"If you were told tomorrow that the Common Market/European Union had been scrapped, would yoube very sorry about it, indifferent or very relieved?"16

In 1973, 41% of citizens from the 9 countries that were members at that stage said they'd feel very sorry ifthe Common Market ceased to exist, 36% felt indifferent and 10% said they'd be relieved. People from WestGermany were by far most likely to feel very sorry (57%), followed by people in Luxembourg (51%). TheBritish were by far least likely to feel very sorry (20%), followed at a distance by people from Belgium (39%).

In 1998, 36% of the people living in the current 15 Member States would feel very sorry if they were told thatthe European Union had been scrapped, 39% would feel indifferent and 13% would feel relieved.Nowadays, people in Luxembourg are most likely to feel very sorry (56%), followed by people in Ireland(54%) and Greece (52%). People in the United Kingdom are by far the least likely to feel very sorry (19%),followed by people in Sweden and people in Eastern Germany (both 21%).

As the following graph shows, there have been very few citizens who would feel relieved if the EuropeanUnion were no more throughout the past 25 years. The graph also shows that public opinion on this issuehas been very stable over time. The latest results do, however, indicate that people who show outrightsupport for the continued existence of the European Union are for the first time outnumbered by people whowould feel indifferent if the Union would be scrapped.

16 The Common Market is an often-used synonym for the EEC.


38

If we compare the 1973 and 1998 for the 9 Member States that were already members in 1973, we see thatthe largest positive difference (measured by an increase in the percentage of "very sorry" responses)occurred in Ireland (+17). Significant positive difference are also noted in Italy (+9), Denmark (+7) andLuxembourg (+5). People in West Germany are now significantly less likely to feel "very sorry" than theywere in 1973 (-21). Significant negative differences are also noted in Belgium (-11) and France (-4). In theUK, the difference of -1% is not statistically significant. (Table 2.5)

51

3741

4642

30

57

41 39

20

56 5450

45

38 37 36 36

28

19

L IRL I NL F DK West D EU9 B UK0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100%

Autumn 1973 Autumn 1998

Feelings if the EEC / EU would be scrapped% saying they would feel "very sorry"

in autumn 1973 and autumn 1998


*

* 1973 results forGreat Britain only

2.5. People's priorities in the spring of 1974 - Do they still apply today?

In the spring of 1974, the Eurobarometer asked the following question:

"The nine countries of the EEC - The Common Market - are together dealing with a number ofshared problems. Here is a list of them. Could you please tell me which one of these problems isthe most important at the present time? And which is the next most important problem?"

In order to commemmorate the 25th anniversary of the Eurobarometer the question was asked again in theautumn of 1998, as follows:

"Twenty-five years ago, the Member States of the European Community were trying to solve acertain number of common problems together. Here is a list of them. Could you please tell me whichone of these problems is the most important at the present time? And which is the next mostimportant problem?"17

17 Although the subject of the items presented to respondents has not changed, the wording has in some cases beenmodified because some of the common policies that the items refer to have since been implemented and in order forthe items to be meaningful in today's context. The question was also asked on the 40th Eurobarometer survey, as partof its 20th anniversary.


39

When the question was first asked, Western Europe was in the midst of what was at that time considered tobe the worst economic recession since the 1930's. Oil prices had doubled, bringing high inflation and themisery of what was regarded as large-scale unemployment. The economic crisis limited the hope for moreeconomic and monetary union within the EEC, a process which some thought had been encouraged by theadhesion in 1973 of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Socially, the 9 Member States had just agreed for the EEC to become active in the areas of employment andof living and working conditions. It was also decided that both sides of industry would participate in socialand economic policy decisions.

Politically, Europe was still the most significant Cold War frontline. The Helsinki negotiations strove torecognise the post-World War II frontiers of Eastern Europe, to further human rights in the East, to buildeconomic cooperation and to reduce as much as possible the risk of war.

Internationally, the United States was withdrawing from the Vietnam War amidst the turmoil of its domesticWatergate scandal. A coup d'état had overthrown the Allende Government in Chile on 11 September 1973,with the middle-East crisis blowing up a month later.

Most important problem for the EUin 1974 (EEC9) and 1998 (EU15)

44%

7%

6%

6%

6%

5%

4%

4%

3%

3%

2%

1%

1%

9%

15%

18%

11%

10%

2%

4%

17%

3%

3%

2%

3%

2%

3%

6%

A fight against rising prices

Replacing the currencies

Reducing the differences between regions

Environment

Achieving a common policy on energie supplies

Discussions with the Americans and the Russians

Co-ordinating the social policies

Modernising European agriculture

Equivalent education

Protecting consumers

Aid to underdevelopped countries

Scientific research

None of these

Don't know

% EB1 % EB50

Replacing the currencies

Co-ordinating the social policies

Fighting rising prices

Reducing differences betweenregions

Protecting the environment

Common Foreign policy

Modernising European agriculture

Equivalent education

Aid to underdevelopped countries

Protecting consumers

Achieving a common policy onenergy supplies

Scientific research

None of these

Don't know

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig 2.7

Source: Survey no. 1 - Fieldwork Apr - May 1974Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

15%

20%

10%

10%

2%

5%

15%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

6%

(EU9 1998)

44%

1974 1998


40

Despite the political turmoil on the international scene and the threat posed by the Cold War, the commonfight against rising prices was considered the most important problem for the EEC in 1974. On average,44% of citizens from the 9 EEC countries held this view, it being the top issue in all the Member States withscores ranging from 56% in Ireland to 34% in the Netherlands.

In 1998, economic turmoil was widespread in other parts of the world - the Asian and Russian marketscrashed in 1998 - but it was not a matter of grave concern for most Europeans. Due to the convergencecriteria for Economic and Monetary Union, inflation levels are currently very low in the European Union. As aresult, only 15% of citizens now regard the common fight against rising prices as the most important problemfor the European Union. However, it should be noted that the EU average deflects substantial variationsbetween the Member States. While less than 10% of the people in Denmark (4%) and the Netherlands (6%)regard the common fight against rising prices as the most important problem for the EU, public opinion isconsiderably different in Portugal (28%) and Belgium (26%) where it is the top issue. In Greece (23%),Ireland (22%), Austria and the UK (both 21%) the common fight against rising prices is also the top issue.

It should come as no surprise that replacing the currencies is currently considered the most importantproblem for the EU by the largest number of respondents (18%). In 5 Member States it is the top issue,namely the Netherlands (33%), Luxembourg (28%), Italy (23%), France (22%) and Germany (21%). These5 countries all introduced the euro on 1 January 1999. In Belgium, another founding country of the euro, theissue comes just behind the common fight against rising prices (26.2% versus 26.4%). Among theremaining 5 founding countries, the proportion of people considering it as the most important problem rankssecond in Ireland (18%) and Finland (15%), third in Austria (16%) and Spain (15%) and fifth in Portugal(8%). In the four countries that did not introduce the euro in January 1999, the issue comes second inDenmark (17%), third in Greece (16%), fourth in Sweden (10%) and fifth in the UK (8%).

While far more people considered the common fight against rising prices as the most important problem forthe EEC in 1974, replacing the currencies nonetheless came second on the list (7%).

Citizens of the 15 EU Member States are nowadays far more likely to consider the co-ordination the socialpolicies of the countries in the fields of employment and job training as the most important problem thancitizens from the 9 EEC countries were in 1974 (17% vs. 4%). In Spain this issue tops the list (27%), while itshares the first place in Austria (21%)18. These two countries joined after 1974, which is one of the reasonswhy the 1998 EU average score is higher than the EEC average score of 1974. However, the increasedscore in 1998 is also due to the fact that in every single of the 9 countries where the question was asked in1974 there are more people who now feel this issue represents the most important problem. The mostsignificant increase is noted in Belgium (+16), followed by Italy (+14), West Germany (+13) and France(+11). The lowest increase is recorded in the Netherlands (+4).

In comparison to 1974, citizens are now somewhat more likely to believe that reducing the differencesbetween the regions is the most important problem (6% and 11%, respectively). The current EuropeanUnion knows more disparity between regions than was the case for the 9 EEC countries. Thus, theproportion of people who regard this issue as the most important problem for the EU is significantly aboveaverage in Italy (21% - +9 since 1974) - where the economic gap between the North and the South hasincreased and in Spain, Portugal (both 20%) and Greece (15%) - which were not part of the EEC in 197419.

People are also somewhat more likely to consider the achievement of a common policy for the protection ofthe environment and to fight pollution as an important problem (+4). In Denmark, 30% hold this viewnowadays, compared to 11% in 1974, making it now the top issue. Belgium is the only country among the 9EEC members where people have not become more likely to regard this issue as important. Among thenewer members, it is the top issue in Sweden (34%) and Finland (19%). Conversely, there are very fewpeople who consider this issue important in Greece (3%), Belgium, Spain, Portugal (all 5%), France, Italy(both 6%) and Austria (9%).

18 As was already shown in Chapter 1, unemployment rates are highest in Spain (18%) which no doubt contributes tothe feeling among the Spanish that this is a problem the EU should tackle.

19 Apart from Italy, the only country where people are nowadays more likely than in 1974 to regard this issue as themost important problem for the EU is the UK (+5%).


41

As in 1974, less than 10% of the public considers any of the other issues presented on the list as the mostimportant. Because many of the common policies that the list refers to were implemented after 1974, it is notsurprising to find that people are now somewhat more opiniated. What is more of a surprise is the fact thatthe proportion of people who consider none of these issues as important has hardly gone up since 1974.This provides further evidence that many of the issues that were relevant to people in 1974 still apply today,although the order of importance has changed. However, the relatively low proportion of people whoconsider any of these issues as the most important in no way suggests that there are no real issues whichconcern the public. One should bear in mind that this question was repeated for the purpose of making acomparison to one of the first Eurobarometer questions in commemoration of its 25th anniversary. Thefollowing chapter, which focuses on people's perceptions of the European Union in 1998, looks at whichissues the public currently considers as priorities. (Table 2.6)

3. Public opinion towards the European Union in 1998

While the previous chapter describes how attitudes towards the European Union have evolved over time,this chapter focuses on the current state of public opinion. We look at differences between the MemberStates and between the various socio-demographic groups in the population. Furthermore, we investigatewhether public opinion has changed since the spring of 199820.

3.1. Support for European Union membership in 1998

In the autumn of 1998, 54% of Europeans regard their country's membership to the European Union as agood thing. This is slightly higher than in the spring of 1998, when 51% of people supported their country'smembership to the EU.

Percentage 'don't know' and 'neither good nor bad' not shown

79%

77%

75%

68%

67%

63%

58%

56%

54%

52%

48%

47%

45%

38%

37%

35%

4%

6%

6%

5%

9%

7%

9%

20%

12%

12%

11%

9%

21%

19%

22%

36%

IRL

LNL

IGR

EP

DK

EU 15

FD

BFIN

AUK

S

Good thing Bad thing

Support for European Union membership

NET RESULTS

75

71

69

63

58

56

36

40

49

42

37

38

24

19

15

-1


20 Some of the questions that will be described were previously asked in the autumn of 1997 instead of the spring of1998.


42

The country by country analyses show that support for European Union membership continues to be highestin Ireland, where 79% of citizens now regard their country's membership to the EU as a good thing. Supportis also obtained from 3 in 4 people in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, while around two-third of thepopulation in Italy, Greece and Spain regard their country's membership as a good thing. More than half ofthe Portuguese, Danes and French are in favour of EU membership, but in Denmark opposition levels aresignificantly above average. In Germany, Belgium and Finland support levels are just below the 50% mark,with opposition levels in Finland being significantly higher than in the two other countries. In Austria, the UKand Sweden, support is obtained from nearly 4 in 10 people, Sweden being the only country where there arejust as many people who regard their country's membership as a bad thing as there are people who regard itas a good thing.

Since the spring of 1998, support levels have increased significantly in Finland (+9), Greece, Spain (both+8), Germany (+7), Luxembourg (+6), Denmark and Sweden (both +3). The UK is the only country where asignificant drop in support levels (-4) and a significant increase in opposition levels (+3) is noted. (Table3.1a)

Analyses of the differences between the two genders show a well-established pattern with men (57%) morelikely than women (51%) to regard their country's membership as a good thing. However, the gap betweenthe genders is decreasing as support levels have increased more among women than among men (thefemale population crosses the 50% mark for the first time since the spring of 1996). In fact, opposition levelsare now slightly higher among men (13%) than among women (12%). Women continue to be more likelythan men to lack and opinion (11% vs. 5%) or to regard their country's membership as neither good nor bad(27% vs. 25%).

Education is an important factor in explaining all EU-attitude measurements: 69% of people who left full-timeeducation aged 20 or older support their country's membership, compared to only 44% of people who leftschool aged 15 or younger. Another important factor is people's age. Whereas the previous surveyrevealed no differences between people aged 15 to 54, we now once again find a stronger correlationbetween age and support levels. 60% of people aged 15 to 24 support EU membership, with supportdecreasing from one age bracket to the next, namely to 56% among people aged 25-39, to 53% among 40-54 year-olds and to 49% among people aged 55 and over. The analyses of the economic activity scalereveals a 24% gap in support levels between managers (69%) and people who look after the home (45%).

The data also reveal the extent of polarisation among supporters and opponents of the Union: 75% of thosewho want the European Union to play a more important role at the beginning of the next century support theircountry's membership, compared to only 21% of those who would like the EU to play a less important role.Public opinion in this respect is even more divided that it was a year ago. The difference in support levelsbetween those who want the EU to play a more important role and those who want it to play a less importantrole is now 54%, compared to 48% in the autumn of 1997. (Table 3.1b)


43

3.2. Benefit from European Union membership in 1998

The proportion of citizens that feels that their country has benefited from EU membership has increased by 3percentage points since the spring of 1998 to 49%. The proportion of negative responses has not changed,so that around a third of the population continues to believe that their country has not benefited. As thegraph below show, there are large differences between Member States.

Benefit from European Union membership

85%

76%

70%

69%

67%

67%

58%

53%

51%

49%

44%

41%

39%

39%

37%

27%

5%

17%

20%

14%

18%

22%

25%

27%

27%

31%

32%

34%

36%

44%

42%

53%

IRL

GRDK

L

PNL

E

F

I

EU 15

B

AD

FIN

UKS

Yes No

NET RESULTS

80

59

50

55

49

45

33

18

127

3

-5

-5

-26

2624

Percentage 'don't know' not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 3.2Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

As in the spring of 1998, people in Ireland are most positive, with 85% saying their country has benefitedfrom EU membership and only 5% saying that their country has not benefited. At the other extreme, we findSweden, which is the only country where more than half of the population feels their country has notbenefited and only 27% of people hold positive views. The remaining 13 countries can be grouped into fourcategories, as follows:

1. In Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Portugal and the Netherlands, more than 2 in 3 people hold positiveviews, while less than a quarter of the population is of the opinion that their country has not benefitedfrom EU membership.

2. In Spain, France and Italy, more than half of the population holds favourable views and around a quarterof the population holds negative views.

3. Positive responses are below the 50% mark in Belgium, Austria and Germany but they outnumbernegative responses.

4. Negative responses outnumber positive responses in Finland and the UK, although the proportion ofnegative responses is below the 50% mark.


44

The proportion of people who now feel their country has benefited has increased significantly in 8 of the 15Member States since the spring of 1998. In France (+7), Finland, Luxembourg (both +6) and Germany (+3),the increase in favourable responses concurs with significant decreases in negative responses. In Spain(+13), Greece (+8), Sweden (+7) and Denmark (+5), the increases are offset more by drops in the proportionof 'don't know' responses than by drops in the proportion of negative responses.

Italy, Portugal (both -6) and the UK (-3) are the only countries where the proportion of people who now feeltheir country has benefited decreased significantly and in all three countries this is off-set by a significant risein negative responses, although far more so in Italy (+10) than in Portugal (+4) or the UK (+3). In theNetherlands an increase in negative responses (+6) is offset by a decrease in 'don't know' responses (-5).

In Austria, an increase of 5 percentage points in the proportion of 'don't know' responses is balanced out bydecreases in both the proportion of positive (-2) and negative (-3) responses. Belgium and Ireland are thetwo countries where public opinion is exactly the same as in the spring of 1998. (Table 3.2a)

Demographic analyses show that people who stayed in full-time education the longest, managers (both62%), students (60%), employees and the young (both 56%) are most likely to feel that their country hasbenefited, while people who left school aged 15 or younger, people who look after the house (both 39%) andpeople who are retired (42%) are least likely to share this view.

The following comparison provides further evidence of the large degree of polarisation among supportersand opponents of the Union: 76% of people who support their country's membership believe their countryhas benefited, compared to 7% of people who oppose their country's membership. Once again, we note aslight increase in the gap between supporters and opponents. In the spring of 1998, the difference betweenthe two groups with relation to the benefit question was 64%, compared to today's 69%. (Table 3.2b)

3.3. People's emotive stance towards the EU in 1998

As we already cited in chapter 2, 36% of EU citizens would feel very sorry if they were told that the EuropeanUnion had been scrapped, 39% would feel indifferent and 13% would feel relieved. The table below showsthat there is a strong relationship between people's attitudes towards their country's membership to the EUand their emotive stance.

Relationship between people's attitudes towards their country'smembership to the EU and their emotive stance

Membership to the European Union is:

a good thing neither good nor bad a bad thing

Feeling if theEuropeanUnion werescrapped

% % %

Very sorry 61 9 5

Indifferent 28 62 30

Very relieved 2 15 60

Don't know 10 14 5

Total 101 100 100


45

As can be seen, 61% of people who support their country's membership to the EU would feel very sorry ifthey were told that the EU had been scrapped, while 60% of people who regard their country's membershipas a bad thing feel very relieved. People who feel their country's membership is neither good nor bad aremost likely to feel indifferent (62%).

For each of the 15 Member States we have matched the net percent difference between the positive ("agood thing" and "very sorry") and negative responses ("a bad thing" and "very relieved") of both questions.This matching (see graph below) highlights which countries are more pro-European and which countries aremore Eurosceptic.

Feelings if EU were scrapped by support for EU membership

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

EU membership - Net % difference between"a good thing" and "a bad thing"

Fee

lings

ifE

Uw

ere

scra

pped

-N

et%

diffe

renc

ebe

twee

n"v

ery

sorr

y"an

d"r

elie

ved"

B

DK

Source: Eurobarometer Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

D

GR

S

A

EU15

FE

I

NL

P

LIRL

FINUK

The next graph shows that people in Luxembourg and Ireland are both most likely to feel very sorry if theywere told the EU had been scrapped and most likely to support their country's membership to the EU. Theemotional attachment level is also high in two other countries where support for EU membership iswidespread, namely Greece and Italy. In the UK, Sweden and Finland, where support for membership islow, people are most likely to feel relieved if the EU were scrapped.


46

Feelings if the EU were to be scrapped

5654

5250

4645

383737

36

3330

2823

2119

273236

3430

3639

4531

39

3439

51394346

73

63

79

135

22

13

1614

925

3024

LIRLGR

IP

NLFE

DK

EU15

DAB

FINS

UK

% Very sorry % Indifferent % Very relieved

Percentage 'don't know' not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 3.3Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 3.3Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

The proportion of people who say they'd be indifferent if they were told that the EU were scrapped is quitehigh throughout the EU, ranging from 27% in Luxembourg to 51% in Belgium and there are quite a numberof countries (8 out of 15) where these people outnumber people who would feel very sorry. This points to ageneral lack of emotional involvement in politics that is affecting many Western societies. The situation isparticularly pronounced in Belgium. However, the proportion of people in Belgium that would feel relieved ifthe EU ceased to exist is very low (9%). Earlier surveys point to widespread doubt among Belgians in thefunctioning of democracy - both at the national and at the EU level - and to low levels of trust in the politicalsystem, factors which may help explain Belgian attitudes. (Table 3.3a)

The demographic analyses show that men are more likely than women to say that they would be very sorry(40% and 32%, respectively), although both genders are equally likely to feel very relieved (both 13%).While there are no large variations between the age groups when it comes to feeling "very sorry", there aresignificant differences when it comes to feeling "very relieved": only 7% of people aged 15 to 24 would feelthis way, compared to 17% of people aged 55 and over. In terms of education, we find that the level ofpositive responses on the emotive measure increases in line with the number of years that people havestayed in full-time education. Only 27% of people who left school by the age of 15 or younger say theywould be very sorry, compared to 53% of people who stayed in full-time education until the age of 20 orolder. Analysis of the economic activity scale shows that 53% of managers would feel very sorry, followed ata distance by white-collar employees (43%) and self-employed people (42%). Only 27% of people who lookafter the home and 28% of manual workers say they would be very sorry. Retired people (18%) are mostlikely to say they would feel very relieved. (Table 3.3b)


47

3.4. The "Euro-Dynamometer" in 1998

We have already looked at how the perceived current and desired speed of Europe's progress has evolvedover time. In this section we investigate how public opinion on this matter differs between the various EUcountries and how it differs between the various socio-demographic groups in the population21.

The "Euro-Dynamometer"Europe's Progress

Perceived current speed, desired speed

4,84,5 4,4 4,3 4,3 4,3

4,1 4,1 4,1 4 4 3,9 3,9 3,8 3,7 3,6

5

5,5

4,7

4,24 4

5,5

4,8 4,7

5,8

4,7 4,6 4,6

4

5,6

4,1

IRL E L D DK FIN P A F GR EU15 B NL UK I S1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Average current speed Average desired speed

0.2* 1.0 0.3 -0.1 -0.3 -0.3 1.4 0.7 0.6 1.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.2 1.9 0.5

*Scale-value difference "desired" minus "current"

"Runs as fastpossible"

"Stand still"


Looking at the 15 Member States shows that the current speed of Europe's progress is rated fastest bypeople in Ireland (average current speed score is 4.8 on a scale of 1 to 7), followed by people in Spain (4.5)and Luxembourg (4.4) and slowest by people in Sweden (3.6), Italy (3.7) and the UK (3.8).

Greeks would like to see Europe progress at the fastest speed (average desired speed score is 5.8 on ascale of 1 to 7), followed by citizens from Italy (5.6), Spain and Portugal (both 5.5). In the Nordic countriesand the UK (all around 4), people desire the slowest speed of progress.

The gap between the speed at which Europe is perceived to be progressing and the speed at which peopledesire Europe to progress varies significantly from country to country. In Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain,people would clearly like to see Europe progress faster than they think it currently is. In decreasing order,this is also the case in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Luxembourg, Ireland and the UK.The only three countries where people believe Europe is progressing faster than it should are Denmark,Finland and Germany. However, the gap between the current and the desired speed is small in the first twocountries and virtually non-existent in Germany.

21 As a reminder, the question is formulated as follows: "In your opinion, what is the current speed of building Europe.Please look at these figures (SHOW CARD). N°1 is standing still; N°7 is running as fast as possible. Choose theone which best corresponds with your opinion of the current speed of building Europe. And which corresponds bestto the speed you would like? (SHOW SAME CARD)"


48

The pattern described above is quite similar to the one obtained when the question was previously asked inthe autumn of 1997. The most notable shifts are recorded in France and Luxembourg, where the differencesbetween the desired and current speed has dropped by -0.8 and -0.7 points, respectively. To a lesser extentthis is also true in Portugal, Spain and Germany, where the gap has dropped by -0.4 points. There are nocountries where the gap between the desired and current speed has increased between 1997 and 1998.(Tables 3.4 and 3.5)

The following table depicts the average speed at which the various socio-demographic groups in thepopulation believe Europe is currently progressing, how fast they would like it to progress and the differencefor each socio-demographic group between the desired and perceived speed. The groups are ranked byshowing the difference score in decreasing order. Although there is some difference between the variousgroups, all would like Europe to progress faster than it currently does. This indicates that socio-demographicfactors do not contribute as strongly as the country variable does to variations in people's feelings about theperceived and desired speed of Europe's progress.

"The Euro-Dynamometer"Average scores for the socio-demographic groups (EU15)

Socio-demographicgroup:

Average currentspeed

Average desiredspeed

Difference desiredminus current

Still studying 4.1 5.1 1.0

Aged 15-24 4.1 5.1 1.0

In school until 20+ 4.1 5.0 0.9

Self-employed 4.1 5.0 0.9

White-collar employees 4.0 4.9 0.9

Managers 4.1 4.9 0.8

Men 4.1 4.8 0.7

Aged 25-39 4.1 4.8 0.7

Women 4.0 4.7 0.7

EU15 Average 4.0 4.7 0.7

Aged 40-54 4.1 4.7 0.6

Unemployed 4.1 4.7 0.6

In school until 15 < 4.0 4.6 0.6

In school until 16-19 4.0 4.6 0.6

Manual workers 4.0 4.6 0.6

House-persons 4.0 4.6 0.6

Aged 55 and over 4.0 4.5 0.5

Retired 4.0 4.5 0.5


49

The next table shows how people's views towards the European Union in general relate to their perceivedcurrent and desired speed of Europe's progress.

"The Euro-Dynamometer"Average scores among people with pro-, neutral and anti-EU attitudes

(EU15)

Pro-EU attitudes: Average currentspeed

Average desiredspeed

Differencedesired minus

current

Desires more important role of EU 4.0 5.4 1.4

Very sorry if EU were scrapped 4.2 5.5 1.3

EU membership is a good thing 4.1 5.3 1.2

Neutral EU attitudes:

Indifferent if EU were scrapped 3.9 4.6 0.7

EU membership is neither goodnor bad

3.9 4.3 0.4

EU's role should not change 4.1 4.3 0.2

Anti-EU attitudes:

Desires less important role of EU 4.3 3.2 -1.1

EU membership is a bad thing 4.1 3.0 -1.1

Very relieved if EU were scrapped 4.2 2.9 -1.3

As expected, people with pro-European views would like Europe to progress faster than it currently does,whereas people with anti-European views would like it to progress slower than it currently does. People withneutral views are most likely to believe that Europe's actual progress is on par with the speed at which theywould like it to progress. Thus, general attitudes to the European Union are clearly good predictors of howpeople feel about the speed of Europe's progress.

3.5. The expected and desired role of the EU in the 21 st century

In the previous chapter we have shown how much people believe has been achieved in terms of Europeanintegration over the past 50 years. In this section, we look towards the future.

Fifty-two percent of Europeans believe the European Union will in the 21st century play a more important rolein their daily life, 32% believe it will play the same role and only 7% believe it will play a less important role.


50

65 63

57 56 54 54 52 50 49 4945 45 45 44 43

40

3025

32 3329 28

3237 36 35 35

32 31

42 42

36

3 36 6 4 5 7 9 10

36

1115

610 10

GR I NL F IRL P EU15 DK S E UK A D L FIN B0

20

40

60

80

100%

% More important % Same role % Less important

* percentage "don't know" not shown

The 21st century: perceived role of the EU in people's daily life


The country by country analyses show that people in Greece (65%) and Italy (63%) are most likely to thinkthat the EU will play a more important role in their daily life. In the Netherlands (57%), France (56%), Irelandand Portugal (both 54%), more than half of the people also share this view. Although public opinion issomewhat more divided in the other countries, the feeling that the EU will play a more important role isnonetheless the prevalent view. The proportion of people who think the EU will play the same role is highestin Luxembourg and Finland (both 42%), followed by people in Denmark (37%), Belgium, Sweden (both36%), Spain and the UK (both 35%). The view that the EU will play a less important role is low throughoutthe Member States, ranging from 3% in Greece, Italy and Spain to 15% in Germany.

In a number of countries people are now significantly more likely to think that the European Union will play amore important role than they were in the autumn of 1997 when the question was previously asked. Thesecountries are Germany (+11), Spain (+9), Greece (+7), France, the Netherlands (both +6), Ireland (+4) andItaly (+3). There are no countries where people are now significantly more likely to think that the EuropeanUnion will play a less important role in the 21st century. (Table 3.6a)

People's views vary depending on their socio-demographic characteristics. However, at the EU level theproportion believing that the EU's role will be less important is always below 10%, regardless of people's sex,age, economic activity or years of schooling. Only those who view membership to the EU as a bad thing aresomewhat more inclined to feel that in the future the EU will play a less important role in their daily life.(Table 3.6b)

Looking next at the role people would like the European Union to play in their daily life at the beginning of thenext Millennium shows that 48% of Europeans desire a more important role, 27% desire the same role, whileonly 14% desire a less important role.


51

7773

6257

5348

43 43 4239 38 38 37

32 31 29

1612

21

28 28 27

34

28

38

2732 30

44 44

3633

6 4 49

5

14

6

15

9

26

11

22

1317

30

24

GR I P F E EU15 IRL A L S B D NL FIN DK UK0

20

40

60

80

100%

% More important % Same role % Less important

* percentage "don't know" not shown

The 21st century: desired role of the EU in people's daily life

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 3.5bSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

The country analyses show that people in Greece (65%) and Italy (63%) are not only most likely to think thatthe EU will play a more important role, but also most likely to want it to play a more important role in theirdaily life (77% and 73%, respectively)22. In Portugal (62%), France (57%) and Spain (53%), more than halfof the population desires the European Union to play a more important role in their daily life at the beginningof the new Millennium. In the Netherlands, Finland (both 44%), Denmark (36%) and the UK (33%), the mostfrequently expressed desire is for the EU to continue to play the same role. The proportion of people whodesire a less important role for the EU is, as expected, highest in Denmark (30%), Sweden (26%) and theUK (24%). However, in none of these countries is this the most widely expressed view. In Sweden, thebalance clearly tips in favour of people who would like the EU to play a more important role (39%).

In Germany (+9), Austria (+7), Spain, Sweden (both +6), Greece and Italy (both +5), people are nowsignificantly more likely than they were in the autumn of 1997 to want the European Union to play a moreimportant role. In the Netherlands (+5), Portugal and Finland (both +4), the proportion of people who desirethe EU to play the same role has increased significantly. The UK (+6) and Denmark (+5) are the only twocountries where there is a clear shift towards wanting the European Union to play a less important role in the21st century. (Table 3.7a)

It should come as no surprise that people who support their country's EU membership (67%) are significantlymore likely than people who regard it as a bad thing (17%) to desire a more important role for the EU at thebeginning of the next century. The socio-demographic analyses show that students, people who left schoolaged 20 or over and managers (all 59%) are most inclined to want a more important role for the EuropeanUnion, while people who look after the home (39%) and people who left school aged 15 or younger (41%)are least likely to share this view. (Table 3.7b)

22 This finding, together with the finding that Italians feel the speed of European integration should be faster than iscurrently the case, helps explain why so many Italians rate the achievements of the past 50 years as low, as noted inChapter 2.


52

3.6. The European Union's priorities in 1998

The five political priorities of the European Commission in 1998, as stated in its Work Programme, werebroadly speaking as follows23:

� To press for an integrated and coherent approach in the field of employment� To complete the preparations for the introduction of the single currency� To start the preparations necessary for the Union's enlargement 24

� To encourage collective and coherent Union action in the world at large� To serve the public for a better quality of life

In this section, we look at the extent to which the public considers these issues to be priorities for theEuropean Union25.

92%

89%

89%

89%

86%

79%

77%

72%

67%

50%

49%

27%

4%

7%

7%

7%

10%

13%

18%

21%

25%

38%

36%

60%

% Priority % Not a priority

EU15

EU actions: priority or not?

Fighting unemployment

Fighting poverty and socialexclusion

Fighting organised crime anddrug trafficking

Maintaining peace andsecurity in Europe

Protecting the environment

Guaranteeing the rights of theindividual and respect for theprinciples of democracy in Europe

Protecting consumers andguaranteeing the quality of products

Getting closer to European citizens,for example by giving them moreinformation about the EU

Successfully implementing the singleEuropean currency, the euro

Reforming the institutions ofthe EU and the way they work

Asserting the political and diplomaticimportance of the EU around the world

Welcoming new member countries

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig 3.6Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

23 Further information can be found on the following Web-site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/off/work/1998/index_en.htm.24 Enlargement is part of the Commission's Agenda 2000. More information can be found at:http://europa.eu.int/comm/agenda2000.25 Individual country results are shown in Table 3.8 in the Appendix.


53

There is widespread consensus among the European public when it comes to employment . 92% believethe fight against unemployment should be a priority for the European Union and 89% want the EU to fightpoverty and social exclusion. In its 1998 Work Programme, the Commission states that within the remit of acoherent and integrated approach to employment, one of its aims is "to encourage the emergence of a moreinclusive Europe, particularly in relation to the various forms of social exclusion, which are aggravated byhigh unemployment".

There is also widespread consensus that the EU should take actions to improve the quality of life of itscitizens. In this respect, we find that 89% of Europeans regard fighting organised crime and drug traffickingas a priority. This challenge has become more feasible through the justice and home affairs title of theAmsterdam Treaty. Furthermore, 86% of Europeans believe protecting the environment should be a priority.The Commission's Work Programme states that "the development of the Union should not jeopardise highenvironmental standards" and that "the Commission will be at pains to respond to public concern" in thisarea. The results also show that more than 3 in 4 Europeans believe that the European Union should takeactions to protect consumers and to guarantee the quality of products. Here the Work Programme statesthat "rules on labelling, testing for potential health risks and pre-sales checks on production procedures willall be strictly applied by the Commission, in the interest of strict consumer protection". In line with theopinion held by 72% of the public that getting closer to European citizens should be a priority, the WorkProgramme states that "both at national and Union level, European affairs must be handled with maximumeffectiveness, openness and competence".

The priorities of the European Union are also largely in line with public opinion when it comes to Unionaction in the world at large . Under this heading, the Commission's Work Programme states that "Europeneeds to meet growing demand from the public for greater unity, coherence and effectiveness in its efforts tobring peace", which 89% of Europeans consider as a priority. The programme also states that "theEuropean Union must continue to promote values such as democracy and human rights", which 79% of EUcitizens regard as a priority. Public opinion is somewhat more divided in terms of the Commission's view that"the presence of a strong Europe on the international scene is a factor for peace, stability and prosperity".50% of EU citizens believe that asserting the political and diplomatic importance of the EU around the worldis a priority, against 38% who disagree.

When it comes to the Union's priority to complete the preparations for the introduction of the singlecurrency , we find that 67% of EU citizens agree with this, against 25% who don't. Public opinion to the eurois analysed in more detail in Chapter 4.

When it comes to enlargement and its necessary preparations , we find that only 27% of Europeansregard welcoming new members as a priority. However, the priority to reform the Union's institutions and theway they work receives broader support: 49% regard it as a priority, against 36% who disagree. Publicopinion to enlargement is the focus of Chapter 5.

3.7. Support for joint EU decision-making

In order to measure the extent to which the public supports community action in various policy areas, theEurobarometer includes a question which asks whether decisions should be taken at the national or EUlevel. The question also taps into people's views on sovereignty. Furthermore, it enables us to see to whatextent people apply the principle of subsidiarity, which is based on the notion that the EU should focus onmatters that cannot be effectively handled at a lower level.


54

The question lists 18 policy areas over which the Union has, to varying degrees, decision-makingcompetencies. On average, 57% of people support joint EU decision-making in these areas and EUdecision-making is favoured over national decision-making in 14 of the 18 areas.

SUPPORT FOR JOINT EU DECISION-MAKINGBY COUNTRY

CountryAverage level ofsupport for EU

decision-making

Number of areas where EUdecision-making is more

popular than nationaldecision-making

(18 areas maximum)

Italy 67% 18Belgium 64% 15

The Netherlands 63% 14Spain 63% 13

Greece 62% 14France 60% 14EU15 57% 14

Germany 57% 14Luxembourg 56% 14

Ireland 54% 13Austria 52% 11

Portugal 49% 11Denmark 46% 10

United Kingdom 45% 8Sweden 44% 9Finland 42% 8

Once more, the results identify Italy as a nation of EU supporters. Not only do we find the highest level ofsupport for EU decision-making in Italy; it is also the only country where joint EU decision-making is favouredover national decision-making in all the policy areas covered in the survey. It seems that part of the pro-European attitude of Italians is due to a feeling that the European Union offers a more promising form ofgovernment. Consequently, Italians place less importance on their country's sovereignty than people inother countries do. In those countries where national sovereignty is important to people, the public prefers amore restricted role for the EU in the decision-making process. Thus, we find that support for EU decision-making is lowest in Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark. However, this may be the righttime to point out that the Danes are in many respects less Eurosceptic than is often claimed. Although theyclearly do not want a United States of Europe, they do identify many positive aspects of their membership tothe European Union.


55

18 Policy areas - EU15National or joint EU decision-making

72%

72%

71%

70%

70%

67%

66%

65%

64%

58%

57%

55%

51%

50%

38%

37%

35%

35%

21%

24%

21%

24%

25%

28%

31%

30%

29%

37%

40%

37%

41%

44%

55%

56%

60%

61%

EU National

Fight against drugs

Information about the EU

Science+technology research

Foreign Policy

Protection of the environment

Regional support

Fight against unemployment

Political asylum rules

Currency

Immigration policy

Defence

Humanitarian aid

Agriculture & fishing policy

Basic rules for broadcasting and press

Cultural policy

Health and Social welfare

Education

Fight against poverty and socialexclusion

Percentages "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig 3.7Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

As one would expect, the majority of people believe it is the joint responsibility of the European UnionMember States to take decisions about how information about the European Union, its policies andinstitutions should be handled. However, the point to make here is that the graph above shows that people'sopinions towards EU decision-making appear to be based on the subsidiarity principle. People make adistinction between areas, which are more likely to affect them directly, and areas that are more removedfrom their daily lives. As usual, highest support for EU joint decision-making goes to areas which are lesslikely to affect people directly or which transcend national borders such as the fight against drugs, foreignpolicy, research and humanitarian aid. On the other hand, the majority of Europeans want the nationalgovernments to decide in areas that concern them more directly such as health and social welfare,education, cultural policy and broadcasting rules for the media. One policy area where people deviate fromthe notion of subsidiarity is currency. Contrary to what one would expect on the basis of this principle, 67%of Europeans believe that currency issues should be decided jointly by the EU. This finding points towidespread support for Economic and Monetary Union. (For individual country results, see table 3.9)


56

3.8. Support for key issues

The Eurobarometer is used to gauge public opinion towards a number of key issues of the European Union.Some of the issues are clear cut policy matters while others relate to democratic processes which govern theway the European Union functions.

87%

75%

74%

73%

69%

66%

64%

64%

55%

6%

13%

10%

8%

14%

16%

18%

25%

21%

For Against

(EU15)

Support for key issues

Teach in schools howthe EU works

Common defence and securitypolicy

The Commission should haveParliament's support or resign

Common Foreign Policy

EU to support European TV and filmproduction against US and Japanese

The European Central Bank has tobe accountable for its decisions tothe European Parliament

EU should be responsible only formatters which national, regional andlocal governments can not deal with

There has to be a European CentralBank which is independent of theMember States

There has to be one single currency,the euro

Percentages "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig 3.8Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

In all 15 Member States, there is widespread agreement that children should be taught in school about theway European Union institutions work, with support levels ranging from 96% in Greece and Sweden to 80%in Austria. Although a majority of Europeans are in favour of having a film and television policy whichsupports European productions over American and Japanese, support is lower than it is for the other issuesincluded in the survey. However, opinions differ significantly from country to country, with support levelsranging from 81% in Greece to 40% in Denmark and Sweden26.

26It should be noted that quite a few people lack an opinion on this matter.


57

We find that support for the other policy issues relates more strongly to how people generally feel about theEuropean Union. Thus, we find that support for a common defence policy is highest in Italy, Greece,Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France and lowest in Sweden and Finland. Support levels are also belowaverage in Ireland, which has traditionally taken on a neutral position in international conflicts. The notion ofa common foreign policy is most favoured by people in Greece and least popular in Sweden, while supportfor the EMU policies is highest in Italy and lowest in the UK.

On the other hand, we find that in countries with more Eurosceptic people, support for the democraticprocesses listed in the questionnaire is equally, if not more, widespread. For instance, we find high levels ofsupport in Denmark and Sweden for the notion that the European Central Bank should be accountable for itsdecisions to the European Parliament, despite the fact that a significant proportion of people in thesecountries is against the euro. The fear that the European Union has too much power and the feeling thatthere are insufficient measures to control these powers is one of the reasons that makes people in theScandinavian countries Eurosceptic. Thus, people in these countries place great value in democraticprocesses. (Table 3.10)

In order to provide a general impression of support levels in each of the countries, we have calculated anaverage by summing up the percentage of favourable responses for each policy issue and dividing this bythe total number of issues (9). Because average results always conceal some information, we also show thedifference between the issue that receives the highest percentage support and the issue that receives thelowest percentage support. This way one can see whether the average is influenced by extremes. Oneshould also bear in mind that people who do not support an issue are not necessarily against it, but that theymay lack an opinion. Equally, low support levels may be a direct result of high levels of 'don't know'responses and thus do not necessarily convey high opposition levels.

SUPPORT FOR KEY ISSUESBY COUNTRY

Country Average level ofsupport

Spread between highest andlowest level of % support

Greece 83% 21The Netherlands 76% 51

Luxembourg 76% 28Italy 76% 35

France 75% 33Spain 72% 20EU15 70% 32

Ireland 69% 38Belgium 69% 36Germany 69% 35Finland 68% 39

Denmark 64% 51Austria 63% 33

Sweden 60% 56United Kingdom 58% 47

Portugal 58% 34


58

Since the measurement of support for key issues has been a regular feature of the Eurobarometer for someyears, it is also possible to see how support for each of the issues has evolved over time.

SUPPORT FOR KEY ISSUES - TRENDS FROM 1995 TO 1998

Theme S95EB 43

A95EB 44

S96EB 45

A96EB 46

S97EB 47

A97EB 48

S98EB 49

A98EB 50

EMU

Singlecurrency 52 53 51 51 47 51 60 64

EuropeanCentral Bank

NA* NA NA NA NA NA 64 69

Common defence and foreign policy

Defence 75 73 60 68 68 69 73 75

Foreign 67 69 66 64 63 63 63 66

Democratic processes

EP to supportCommission

70 72 71 70 69 69 73 73

Subsidiarity 55 63 64 61 60 60 63 64

ECBaccountable toEP

NA NA NA NA NA NA 71 74

Education and Culture

Teach inschools aboutEU

84 86 84 84 87 85 86 87

Support for EUTV & Filmproduction

64 66 59 64 62 60 57 55

* NA = Not asked

In 1998, we witnessed a pronounced increase in support levels for the single currency. While we can not yetspeak of a trend, it appears that support for the European Central Bank, which is linked to support for theeuro, is also on the rise. Support levels for the other key issues have been relatively stable over the years,although we do notice a trend towards less support for European film and television productions.


59

3.9. European identity in 1998

Although one can still not speak of the existence of a truly European identity, the majority of EU citizens feelsto some extent European. However, since this is an issue where opinions differ greatly between countries,generalisations can be deceiving.


European and National Identity

23

29

35

34

40

43

44

46

50

52

49

51

53

56

60

62

45

56

49

53

51

43

41

37

46

42

37

42

42

36

34

27

13

8

9

6

6

7

6

9

3

3

6

4

4

3

3

4

L

I

F

E

NL

EU 15

B

D

GR

DK

A

IRL

FIN

P

S

UK

% European only % European and nationality% Nationality and European % Nationality only

15

7

6

4

5

4

6

4

1

3

4

2

5

NET DIFFERENCE

50

40

30

29

19

11

9

4

0

-4

-2

-4

-6

-14

-21

-26

1

1

3

Feeling European vsNationality only

2


Because Luxembourg contains a high proportion of citizens from other EU countries, we once again find thatpeople in this country are most likely to feel European only. However, at 15%, these people represent only aminority. In all other countries, 10% or less of the population feel European only. Nonetheless, there are 7countries where people who feel to some extent European are in the majority. Apart from Luxembourg(73%), these countries are Italy (69%), France (65%), Spain (63%), the Netherlands (59%), Belgium (53%)and Germany (50%). In Greece, the population is equally split between people who feel to some extentEuropean (50%) and people who feel only Greek (50%). In the other 7 countries, people who identify onlywith their own nationality are in the majority, although in Austria, Denmark, Ireland and Finland, this majorityis very small. The only three countries where national identity is clearly the prevalent sentiment are the UK(62%), Sweden (60%) and, to a slightly lesser extent, Portugal (56%). (Table 3.11a)

Whether people feel European or not is also strongly influenced by a number of socio-demographic factors.It is first of all clearly a generational issue with people who came into adulthood prior to the 1950'ssignificantly less likely to feel to some extent European than people who grew up after the first EuropeanTreaty was signed. At the moment, it also still appears to be an issue of age, meaning that as peoplebecome older they tend to identify more strongly with their own country. Education is another importantfactor, although as we have stated several times before, education inter-relates with age. Thus, we find thatpeople who left school by the age of 15 or younger - of whom many belong to the older generation - are mostlikely to have a strong sense of national identity, while this is least likely among people who are still studying.However, there are also clear differences between people who left school by the age of 19 and those whostayed in school longer, where age plays less of a role. On the economic activity scale, we find thatmanagers are most likely to feel European while retired people and people who look after the home are mostlikely to identify solely with their own nationality (again, older people are over-represented in thesecategories).


60

The most important factor is how people feel about the European Union in general. Even though age,education and occupation all play a role in determining this attitude, it is nonetheless striking to find that 74%of people who regard their country's membership as a bad thing identify solely with their own nationality,compared to only 27% of people who regard their country's membership as a good thing. This findingexplains a great deal about the variations in the opinions that we have discussed in this chapter. (Table3.11b)

This Eurobarometer has also for the first time measured whether people agree or disagree that there is aEuropean cultural identity that is shared by all Europeans. The answers to this question show that peoplemake a clear distinction between feeling European and the existence of a European cultural identity so thatwe do not obtain the familiar country pattern, although we do find lower levels of agreement among nationswhere there are more Eurosceptic people.27

There is a European cultural identity shared by all Europeans

5045 44 44

41 41 40 39 38 37 37 36 36 34 3328

4336

4144 44

4853

57

4946

58

35

60 59

50

58

GR IRL A D I L F DK EU15 B NL P FIN S E UK0

20

40

60

80

100%

% Completely + slightly agree % Slightly + completely disagree


At a demographic level, we find less pronounced differences than we typically do. Rather, we find that thelevel of 'don't know' responses varies significantly, with younger well educated people with higheroccupational positions more likely to have an opinion than older less well educated people with less highoccupational positions. When it comes to general attitudes to the EU, we do find the typical distinction, with49% of people who support their country's membership to the EU agreeing, compared to only 17% of thosewho regard their country's membership as a bad thing. (Tables 3.12a+b)

27 People were offered 5 answer options: completely agree, slightly agree, slightly disagree, completely disagree anddon't know.


61

3.10. Awareness and importance of the Council Presidency

In the last section of this chapter, we look at both the awareness and the perceived importance of thePresidency of the Council of Ministers, which at the time of the survey was for the first time held by Austria28.

As the following graph shows, awareness levels among the Austrians were quite high, especially consideringthat this was the first time that Austria, which joined the European Union in 1995, held the Presidency.Around 2 in 3 Austrians believed it was important that their country held the Presidency.

Awareness and importance of theCouncil Presidency

82%

82%

82%

82%

81%

81%

79%

77%

74%

72%

71%

70%

68%

66%

63%

62%

55%

54%

52%

51%

43%

41%

41%

36%

22%

80%

75%

74%

71%

85%

57%

61%

65%

73%

78%

81%

75%

68%

73%

72%

61%

57%

73%

64%

56%

64%

45%

64%

63%

59%

GR 1994 (EB 41)

L 1991 (EB 35)

DK 1993 (EB 39)

NL 1997 (EB 47)

P 1992 (EB 37)

NL 1991 (EB 36)

DK 1987 (EB 28)

A 1998 (EB 50)

GR 1988 (EB 30)

E 1989 (EB 31)

IRL 1996 (EB 46)

IRL 1990 (EB 33)

L 1997 (EB 48)

E 1995 (EB 44)

I 1996 (EB 45)

B 1993 (EB 40)

D 1988 (EB 29)

I 1990 (EB 34)

UK 1992 (EB 38)

B 1987 (EB 27)

F 1989 (EB 32)

D 1994 (EB 42)

F 1995 (EB 43)

UK 1998 (EB49)

UK 1986 (EB 26)

Awareness Importance

Not aware/not important and'don't know' not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig 3.11

Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

28 Each Member State of the European Union holds, in turn, the Presidency for a period of six months. Since 1986, theEB has fielded the question in the respective country.


62

4. Current policy issues: the euro

In this chapter we look at public support for the euro, as measured in the period just prior to its introduction.We also look at the perceived effects of the euro, how people would like the transition in the year 2002 toeuro notes and coins to take place, how much people know about the euro, whether and from whom theyhave already received information and where they would like to find information about the change-over to theeuro.

4.1. Support for the single currency

The Eurobarometer has measured public support for the single currency since 1993, when the MaastrichtTreaty established that the single currency would be introduced by 1 January 1999. While only around halfof EU citizens were in favour of the single currency until 1997, support levels increased significantly in 1998.The latest results show the highest level of support to date, with 64% of EU citizens in favour of the singlecurrency and only 25% against.

At the time of the survey, it had already been decided that the euro-zone would initially consist of 11 MemberStates29. The 11 euro-zone countries, i.e. those that introduced the euro on 1 January 1999, are Austria,Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.Throughout the remainder of this report we will refer to the euro-zone as the "EURO 11" countries. The 4countries outside of the euro-zone - Denmark, Greece, Sweden and the United Kingdom - will be referred toas the "pre-in" countries. The results show that people in the "EURO 11" countries (70%) tend to be moresupportive of the single currency than people in the "pre-in" countries (42%) are.

29 The Heads of State and Government of the European Union Member States took this decision on 2 May 1998 duringthe special European Council held in Brussels.


63

Looking first at the "EURO 11" countries shows that support levels are highest in Italy (88%), Luxembourgand the Netherlands (both 79%). In four further "EURO 11" countries, around 3 in 4 people are in favour ofthe single currency, while in 4 other countries more than half of the population supports it. Highestopposition levels are noted in Finland and Germany (both 32%), although these are significantly lower thanthey were in the spring of 1998.

Looking next at the "pre-in" countries shows that people in Greece (75%) are significantly more likely tosupport the euro than people in Denmark, the UK and Sweden are. In these three countries there are morepeople who oppose the euro than people who support it. However, in Sweden (-2) the gap betweenopponents and supporters is very small.

The euro: For or against?

88%

79%

79%

75%

75%

75%

74%

74%

70%

64%

61%

58%

57%

54%

44%

42%

41%

36%

6%

14%

18%

11%

13%

19%

16%

20%

20%

25%

32%

18%

28%

32%

46%

44%

53%

48%

IL

NLIRL

EGR

BF

EURO11

EU15

FINPADS

"PRE-INS"DKUK

For Against

NET RESULTS

82

65

61

64

62

56

58

54

39

40

29

-2

-2

-12

-12

29

50

Percentage "don't know" not shown

22


Since the spring of 1998, support for the euro increased in 14 of the Member States, with no changerecorded in Luxembourg. Among the "EURO 11" countries, the largest positive increases are noted inFinland (+8), Ireland (+7), the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Portugal (all +6). With the exception ofAustria, where no significant change is noted, opposition levels dropped in all of the "EURO 11" countries.Support for the euro also increased in all of the "pre-in" countries. The negative difference between theproportion of the public that supports the euro and the proportion of the public that opposes the euro is nowsignificantly smaller in Sweden (-2 instead of -11), Denmark (-12 instead of -23) and the UK (-12 instead of-15) than it was in the spring of 1998. (Table 4.1a)


64

The euro: For or against?

8883

7979

7973

7568

7572

7567

7468

7468

7066

6460

6153

5852

5756

5451

4439

4239

4134

3634

68

1418

1823

1114

1317

1917

1623

2025

2023

2528

3238

1822

2827

3236

4650

4446

5357

4849

I

L

NL

IRL

E

GR

B

F

EURO11

EU15

FIN

P

A

D

S

"PRE-INS"

DK

UK

FOR AGAINST

% For in Autumn 1998

% For in Spring 1998

% Against in Autumn 1998

% Against in Spring 1998

Source: Eurobarometer 50.0 - Fieldwork: Oct - Nov 1998Eurobarometer 49 - Fieldwork: Apr - May 1998

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig 4.2b Percentage "don't know" not shown

88

The analysis by standard demographic variables shows that men (68%) are still more supportive of the eurothan women (60%), although the gap between the genders continues to narrow. Support increased andopposition decreased among all age groups and all educational groups in the population. For the first time,opposition levels have fallen below 20% among some of these groups, namely people who stayed in schooluntil the age of 20 or older (18%) and students (19%). Among the various occupational groups, managersand self-employed people continue to be most likely to support the euro. Opposition levels among these twooccupational groups have also fallen below the 20% mark for the first time. Due to significant increases insupport levels among manual workers (+7), this group is no longer the least supportive. Retired people andpeople who look after the home are the only two groups where opposition levels have increased, albeit notsignificantly.


65

The euro: for or against ?by gender - EU15

68

65

64

60

60

56

24

27

25

28

26

30

Men

EU15

Women

Pour Contre

% For in Autumn 1998 % Against in Autumn 1998

% For in Spring 1998 % Against in Spring 1998

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.2c

Source: Eurobarometer 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998Eurobarometer 49 - Fieldwork Apr - May 1998


The gap between those who regard their country's membership as a good thing (84%) and those who regardtheir country's membership as a bad thing (24%) remains very large. (Table 4.1b)

4.2. Perceived effects of the euro

Over the years, people have become more optimistic about the perceived effects of the euro. In 1996, 33%still thought that the euro would have more disadvantages than advantages; nowadays, only 28% of peopleshare this view. As in 1996, people are most likely to think that the euro will make life easier for people whotravel across borders (86%), make it easier to shop around Europe as all prices will be comparable (83%)and eliminate charges for changing from one currency to another (81%). Furthermore, 62% of peoplebelieve that the euro will cut down the cost of doing business between monetary union member states and48% believe that it will reduce turmoil in international currency markets. However, as in 1996, far fewerpeople believe that the euro will create faster economic growth (37%) or more jobs (29%).

Compared to 1996, there are generally fewer people who believe the euro will have negative effects. Onlyaround a quarter now think that it will increase the volatility in international currency markets (24%; -2) andbring higher inflation (26%; -3). Around a third of the public believes the euro will increase the differencesbetween the rich and the poor (33%; -4), lead countries to lose control over their economic policy (35%; -5)and lead countries to lose too much of their identity (39%; -2). However, the view that the euro will makeeveryday shopping more difficult became more widespread (44%; +5).


66

8685

8380

8177

6262

4849

4439

3941

3735

3540

3337

2927

2833

2629

2426

79

912

913

1719

2325

4448

4645

4046

4340

4541

5255

4845

3535

3535

Make life easier for people who travel across bord

Make it easier to shop around Europe as all prices

Eliminate charges for changing from one currency t

Cut down the cost of doing business between moneta

Reduce turmoil in international currency markets

Make everyday shopping more difficult as new price

Imply that our country will lose too much of its i

Create faster economic growth

Imply that our country will lose control over its

Result in increasing the difference between the ri

Create more jobs

Have more disadvantages than advantages

Result in higher inflation

Result in increasing volatility in international c

Perceived effects of the euroDo you believe the euro will or will not...?

(EU15)

Make life easier for people who travelacross borders

Make it easier to shop around Europeas all prices will be comparable

Eliminate charges for changing fromone currency to another

Cut down the cost of doing businessbetween monetary union member states

Reduce turmoil in international currencymarkets

Make everyday shopping more difficult asnew prices will be harder to understand

Imply that our country will lose too muchof its identity

Create faster economic growth

Imply that our country will lose controlover its economic policy

Result in increasing the differencebetween the rich and the poor

Create more jobs

Have more disadvantages than advantages

Result in higher inflation

Result in increasing volatility in internationalcurrency markets

Source: Eurobarometer 50.0 - Fieldwork: Oct - Nov 1998Eurobarometer 46 - Fieldwork: Oct - Nov 1996

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.3 Percentage "don't know" not shown

YES NO

% Yes in Autumn 1998

%Yes in Autumn 1996

% No in Autumn 1998

% No in Autumn 1996

The following section describes the country pattern for each of the perceived effects of the euro, beginningwith the positive ones.

Positive effects

1. Travelling across borders : Agreement that the euro will make life easier for people who do this iswidespread, ranging from 97% in Greece to 79% in Germany.

2. Shopping around Europe : The view that this will be easier as prices will be comparable is held bymore than 9 in 10 people in the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. At 73%, people inPortugal are least likely to hold this view, although this is partly due to a higher than average occurrenceof "don't know" responses (18%).

3. Exchange charges : At 87%, Italians are most likely to believe that the euro will eliminate thesecharges. At least 7 in 10 people in the other Member States share this view.

4. Cost of doing business : The view that the euro will reduce the cost of doing business in monetaryunion countires ranges from 78% in Denmark to 54% in Spain. In Spain and Portugal, more than 3 in 10respondents lack an opinion on this issue.


67

5. International currency markets : The view that there will be less turmoil as a result of the euro is heldby 73% of people in Luxembourg. Other countries where more than half of the population believes thisto be the case are Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Italy. The level of "don'tknow" responses is high and ranges from 15% in Denmark to 52% in Portugal.

6. Economic growth : Greece (60%) and Italy (54%) are the only countries where more than half of thepopulation believes that the euro will create faster economic growth. People in the UK (27%) andGermany (28%) are least likely to share this view.

7. Job creation : People in Ireland (48%) and Italy (43%) are most likely to believe the euro will createmore jobs while people in Germany (21%) are least likely to share this view.

Negative effects

1. Everyday shopping : The view that this will become more difficult as new prices will be harder tounderstand is most widespread in France (59%), Belgium (58%) and Portugal (51%) and leastwidespread in Denmark (26%) and the Netherlands (28%).

2. National identity : At 61%, people in the UK are most likely to think that the euro will cause their countryto lose too much of its identity. In all other countries, less than half of the population believes this willhappen, with people in Italy (21%) and Spain (22%) least likely to hold this view.

3. Economic policy : People in the UK (61%) are also most likely to think that their country will lose controlover its economic policy as a result of the euro, Sweden being the only other country where this view isvoiced by half of the people (50%). People in Italy (20%), Portugal and Luxembourg (both 21%) areleast likely to believe this will happen.

4. Inequality : People in Greece (46%) and Germany (43% - 59% in the former Democratic Republic ofGermany) are most likely to believe that the euro will increase the difference between the rich and thepoor. People in Italy (19%) and the Netherlands (26%) are least likely to share this view.

5. Disadvantages : The view that the euro will have more disadvantages than advantages is held by nearly4 in 10 people in the UK and Germany, compared to less than 2 in 10 people in Italy, the Netherlands,Portugal and Greece.

6. Inflation : People in Ireland (41%), the UK (38%) and Germany (36%) are most likely to think that theeuro will result in higher inflation, while people in Finland (13%), Italy (14%), Portugal (16%) and Spain(17%) are least likely to share this view, although more than 50% of people in the latter two countrieslack an opinion on this issue.

7. International currency markets : The view that the euro will result in increasing volatility is held bymore than 4 in 10 people in Denmark and Sweden, compared to less than 2 in 10 people in Portugal,Finland, Spain, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands. The propoprtion of "don't know" responses is high,ranging from 21% in Finland to 57% in Portugal. (See also Table 4.2)

4.3. How should notes and coins be introduced in 2002

The euro notes and coins will be introduced on 1 January 2002 while the national currencies must bewithdrawn from circulation by July of that year at the latest. The countries involved will need to decide howthey will go about withdrawing their national currency from circulation. The Eurobarometer askedrespondents whether they thought this should happen overnight so that the euro would be the only legaltender on the 1st of January 2002 or whether there should be a transitional period during which both thenational currency and the euro would be legal tender. Respondents who preferred a transitional period werethen asked whether the transitional period should last up to 6 weeks, over 6 weeks and up to 3 months orover 3 months and up to 6 months. Although the questions were formulated slightly differently in the "pre-in"countries, where the debate is more hypothetical, it is clear that throughout the European Union peopleprefer a transitional period which should last as long as is legally possible.

In the "EURO 11" countries, preference for a transitional period ranges from 85% in Italy to 57% inLuxembourg. In the "pre-in" countries, it ranges from 87% in Sweden and Greece to 74% in the UK. (Table4.3)


68

When euro notes and coins are introduced in 2002,how would you like it to happen?

8581 81

7673 73 72 71 71 69

6257

914 16 17 18 20 20 19

2629

24

37

I E FIN P IRL EURO11 B A F NL D L0

20

40

60

80

100%

Overnight, on the 1st of January 2002, thenational currency will be totally withdrawn fromcirculation and replaced by the euro

With a transitional period when you can still pay in nationalcurrency but where you can already get your change in euros,and vice versa

Percentage "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.4aSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

87 87

77 75 74

811 12

21

13

S GR "PRE-INS" DK UK0

20

40

60

80

100%

When euro notes and coins are introduced in 2002in participating countries

how do you think it should happen?

Overnight, on the 1st of January 2002, thenational currencies will be totally withdrawnfrom circulation and replaced by the euro

With a transitional period when you can still use in nationalcurrencies but where one can already get change in euros,and vice versa

Percentage "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.4bSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998


69

Seventy-one percent of the respondents in the "EURO 11" countries who want a transitional period believe itshould last up to six months (i.e. as long as is legally possible); in the "pre-in" countries this view is held by74% of the respondents who want a transitional period. 19% of respondents in both the "EURO 11" and the"pre-in" countries said the euro and the national currencies should be in circulation for more than 6 weeksbut less than 3 months, while less than 10% of all respondents believe the transitional period should last lessthan 6 weeks. (Table 4.4)

How long would you like the period of dual circulation to last?(Asked of those who would like a transitional period)

Overnight20%

Don't know8%

Transitional period73%

1 to 6 weeks 6%

Over 6 weeks - up to3 months

19%

Over 3 months - upto 6 months

71%

Don't know 3%

(EURO11)

Percentage "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.5aSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

How long would you like the period of dual circulation to last?(Asked of those who would like a transitional period)

Overnight12%

Don't know10%

Transitional period77%

1 to 6 weeks 4%

Over 6 weeks - up to3 months

19%

Over 3 months - upto 6 months

74%

Don't know 3%

("PRE - INS")

Percentage "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.5bSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998


70

4.4. Knowledge and information about the single currency

The decision to call the single currency "the euro" was taken by the Heads of State and Government duringthe December 1995 Madrid Council. Soon after, the Eurobarometer found that 46% of EU citizens correctlyidentified the "euro" as the name of the single currency during the first few months of 199630. The latestEurobarometer survey shows that knowledge levels have risen significantly since early 1996, with 83% of EUcitizens now saying that the single currency is called the euro.

Do you know the name of the single currency?

67

59

67

44 4651

67

32

46

28

43

32 3135

1926

95 95 94 92 92 91 91 8983

80 7976

6964

4946

D F L E NL B A I EU15 P S FIN IRL DK GR UK0

20

40

60

80

100%

% Saying euro in Winter 1996 % Saying euro in Autumn 1998

Percentage "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.6

Source: Survey no. 44 Mega - Fieldwork Jan - Mar 1996Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

In 7 of the 15 Member States, more than 9 in 10 people now know the name of the single currency. These 7countries are all part of the euro-zone, where knowledge levels are generally higher than in the "pre-in"countries. Ireland (69%) is the only "EURO 11" country where less than 7 in 10 people know the name of thesingle currency. In the "pre-in" countries, knowledge levels range from 79% in Sweden to 46% in the UK.The latter is, together with Greece (49%), the only country where less than half of the population is able tocorrectly name the single currency.

The largest increases in knowledge levels are noted in "EURO 11" countries - Italy (+57), followed byPortugal (+52%), Spain (+48), the Netherlands (+46), Finland (+44) and Belgium (+40) - while the smallestincrease, albeit still quite large, is noted in the UK (+20), a "pre-in" country. (Table 4.5a)

The demographic analyses indicate that, despite some differences, knowledge of the single currency's nameis high among all socio-demographic groups in the population. Even three in four people who feel they knowvery little about the European Union know that the single currency is called the euro. (Table 4.5b)

30 Eurobarometer 44.2bis - fieldwork : January to March, 1996.


71

Respondents were also presented with a short knowledge quiz consisting of a number of statements, whichthey had to identify as being either true or false.

Euro quiz% correctly or wrongly identifying whether statement is true or false

(EU15)

84

70

70

54

45

42

7

7

13

24

36

37

The euro will be used to pay for goods and service

Once there is a euro, there will be a European cen

The countries that will take part in the single Eu

The euro will still need be changed into the curre

All of the member countries of the EU will take pa

Notes and coins in euros will be introduced on Jan

% Correct answer % Wrong answer

The euro will be used to pay for goods andservices in all participating countries (True)

The countries that will take part in the singleEuropean currency from the start have alreadybeen chosen (True)

Once there is a euro, there will be a EuropeanCentral Bank (True)

Notes and coins in euros will be introduced onJanuary 1st 1999 (False)

All of the member countries of the EU will takepart in the euro from the start (False)

The euro will still need to be changed into the currencyof another participating Member State in order to pay forgoods and services bought in that Member State (False)


84


The results show that more than 8 in 10 respondents correctly identified the statement "the euro will be usedto pay for goods and services in all participating countries" as true. 7 in 10 respondents were able tocorrectly identify the other 2 "true" statements. The "false" statements proved to be more difficult forrespondents. Just over half knew that it is not true that currency exchanges will still be necessary inparticipating Member States, while less than half knew that it is not true that all countries would introduce theeuro from the start and that euro notes and coins will be introduced in 1999. (Table 4.6)

Looking at variations in knowledge levels between the 15 Member States shows that on average more than7 in 10 people in the Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg answered the items on the quiz correctly. Oneof the reasons why knowledge levels are on average quite high in Denmark and Sweden is that nearly allrespondents in these two countries knew that it is not true that all of the member countries of the EU will takepart in the euro from the start. In fact, Swedes and Danes were much more likely to know that this would notbe the case than people in the other 2 "pre-in" countries. Portugal is the only country where, on average,less than half of the respondents answered the items on the quiz correctly.


72

Average % giving correct answers onthe euro quiz by country

Country Average % ofcorrect answers

The Netherlands 77%

Finland 74%

Luxembourg 71%

Denmark 69%

France 68%

Sweden 66%

Germany 64%

Austria 62%

EU15 61%

Belgium 60%

Italy 57%

Greece 56%

Ireland 56%

Spain 55%

The UK 53%

Portugal 48%

The average score on the euro quiz is a good predictor of how high levels of feeling informed about the euroare in a country. In the 3 countries where people did best on the euro quiz, levels of information about theeuro are highest while they are lowest in the country where people did least well on the quiz.


73

43 43

34

42

33 31 32

42

2825

2217 17 15 16

13 12 11

6360

5247 47 45 44

40 3834

2825 24

18 17 17 15 15

L NL FIN A F B D DK EURO11

EU15 E IRL I "PRE-INS"

S UK GR P0

20

40

60

80

100%

% Very well + well informed in Spring 1998 % Very well + well informed in Autumn 1998

Feeling informed about the single currency

Percentage "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.8

Source: Survey no 49 - Fieldwork Apr - May 1998Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

Levels of feeling very well and well informed about the euro tend to be significantly higher in the "EURO 11"countries than in the "pre-in" countries and it is in the euro-zone countries where we note the most significantincreases since the question was last asked in the spring of 1998. At 63%, levels of feeling informed arenow highest in Luxembourg (+20), followed by the Netherlands (60%; +17) and Finland (52%; +18). Apartfrom Denmark (40%), less than 20% of people living in the "pre-in" countries feel well informed. Portugal isthe only "EURO 11" country where levels of feeling informed are this low. (Table 4.7a)

There are a host of other factors which help explain levels of feeling informed. The first relates to howstrongly people feel about the European Union in general. The results indicate that 48% of people whowould feel very sorry if the EU were scrapped feel well informed, compared to only 25% of people who wouldfeel indifferent if they were told the EU had been scrapped. Similarly, 43% of people who feel their country'smembership to the European Union is a good thing feel well informed about the euro, compared to only 26%of those who consider their country's membership as neither good nor bad.

Furthermore, as the table below shows, 76% of the people who feel they know a lot about the EU feel wellinformed about the euro, compared to only 16% of those who feel they know very little about the EU. Othersocio-economic groups that are more likely than the average EU citizen to feel well informed are people whoscore high on the opinion leadership index, managers and those who stayed in full-time education until theage of 20 or older. (See also table 4.7b)


74

% feeling well informed about thesingle currency

(EU15)

Group %

Score 8-10 on knowledge scale 76Opinion leadership index: ++ 54

Managers 53Educated up to age 20+ 51

Media use index:+++ 43Score 4-7 on knowledge scale 43

Opinion leadership index: + 42Men 41

Employees 41Students 39

Happy with knowledge of EUAged 40-54 38Aged 25-39 36

Self-employed 35Educated to age 16-19 35

Average for EU15 34Media use index: ++ 34

Aged 15-24 34Manual workers 32

Opinion leadership index: - 31Aged 55+ 29

Unemployed 29Retired 29

Really desire info about EUWomen 27

House persons 24Media use index: -- 23Media use index: --- 22

Educated to age 15 or younger 21Opinion leadership index: -- 18

Score 1-3 on knowledge scale 16

Whether one feels informed about the euro or not also depends on whether one has already receivedinformation about the euro. Besides giving the breakdown in levels of feeling informed about the euro for theEU population as a whole, the following table shows the difference between those who say they have andthose who say they have not received any information about the euro. As can be seen, 45% of people whoreceived information about the euro feel well informed, compared to only 17% of people who did not receiveany information. Among the latter group, 82% feel not very well or not at all well informed about the euro.


75

Relationship between receiving information about the euro andfeeling well informed about it

Received information about thesingle currency

EU15 Yes NoHow well informed do you

feel about the singlecurrency?

% % %

Very well+ well 34 45 17

Not very well+not at all well 65 54 82

Don't know 1 1 1

Total 100 100 100

The following graph shows the extent to which people living in the 15 Member States say they have receivedinformation about the euro. As can be seen, more than 9 in 10 people in Finland and Luxembourg say theyhave received information compared to only around 1 person in 10 in the UK. Clearly people living in theeuro-zone countries are far more likely to have received information than people living in the countries thatdid not introduce the euro on 1 January 1999. Furthermore, the proportion of people who receivedinformation increased significantly in most of the "EURO 11" countries (NL: +26; IRL: +18; B: +15; I: +14),while increases of a far smaller scale are noted in the "pre-in" countries with a drop noted in Denmark.

8589

61 60

6963 62 64 66

34

53 51 51 52

41

20 21

8

93 91

76 74 73 71 70 68 68

60 60 58

51 50

4138

25

13

FIN L B I D F EURO11

A E NL EU15 GR S DK P IRL "PRE-INS"

UK0

20

40

60

80

100%

% Yes in Spring 1998 % Yes in Autum 1998

Have people received any information about the single currency?

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.9a



76

In some countries, a large increase since the spring of 1998 in the proportion of people who sat they havereceived information about the euro is matched by a large increase in levels of feeling informed. This isparticularly the case in the Netherlands (+26/+17) but is also the case in Belgium (+15/+14), Ireland(+18/+8), Finland (+8/+18), France (+8/+14) and Italy (+14/+7). Since the proportion of people who hadreceived information was already very high in Luxembourg in the spring of 1998, only a small insignificantincrease is noted (+2). We have already noted that levels of feeling informed increased significantly (+20).This may indicate that people started to take note of the information about the euro only when it was about tobe introduced. Denmark is the only country where a drop in the proportion of people who say they havereceived information (-2) is matched by an equal drop in levels of feeling informed.

What happens to levels of feeling informed when theproportion of people who have received information

changes?

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

-4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26

People who say they have received information about the euro% increase since Spring 1998

Peo

ple

who

feel

wel

linf

orm

edab

outt

heeu

ro%

incr

ease

sinc

eS

prin

g19

98 B

DK

Source: Eurobarometer Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

D

GR

S

A

EU15

F

EI

NL

P

L

IRL

FIN

UK


77

Looking at the sources from which people have received information about the euro shows that the televisionis the most popular, having provided information to around 4 in 10 respondents. More than a quarter ofrespondents have received information from financial institutions and through the written press. The radiohas provided information to 16% of the respondents31.

From whom have people received informationabout the single currency?

(EU15)*

39%

27%

26%

16%

9%

7%

4%

4%

4%

4%

2%

2%

2%

1%

1%

1%

Television

Banks,saving banks

Newspapers, magazines

Radio

Letter / information left in mail box

Family, friends

Shop, supermarket

Workplace

National government

School, university

Local government

Internet, Teletext, Minitel

Trade union, professional organisation

Consumer organisation

Regional government

Other* Asked of those who have received information

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.9bSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

The next table shows that the television is the most mentioned source in 13 of the 15 Member States. InFrance it comes in second place while in the Netherlands it comes in third place, with financial institutionstaking top place in both countries. The financial institutions also make the top four in six other countrieswhich are all in the euro-zone. The written press makes the top four in all the countries, while the radiomakes the top four in all countries except France, Italy and Luxembourg. A mailed letter/information makesthe top four for the first time in 6 countries. Family and friends makes the top four in Greece and Portugal.In France, 20% of respondents received information in a shop or supermarket. It is the only country wherethis makes the top four. In Belgium, 6% of the people say they received information while shopping. In allother countries, this is the case for less than 5% of the population. (See also table 4.8)32

31 The combined total of the responses is greater than the percentage of people who have received informationbecause respondents could list any of the sources presented to them from whom they had received information.

32 It may be interesting for readers to check how frequently EU citizens watch the news on television, read the news indaily newspapers and listen to the news on the radio. This information is shown in Chapter 6.


78

TOP FOUR MOST MENTIONED SOURCES FROM WHICH PEOPLEHAVE RECEIVED INFORMATION ABOUT THE EURO

(IN %, BY MEMBER STATE)

Belgium Luxembourg

Television 56 Television 51

Newspapers, magazines 36 Financial institutions 47

Radio 33 Newspapers, magazines 43

Financial institutions 30 Mailed letter/information 40

Denmark Netherlands

Television 40 Financial institutions 39

Newspapers, magazines 27 Newspapers, magazines 33

Radio 23 Television 32

Mailed letter/information 5 Radio 18

Germany Austria


Newspapers, magazines 41 Financial institutions 31

Financial institutions 38 Newspapers, magazines 30

Radio 23 Radio 24

Greece Portugal



Radio 10 Family & friends 8

Family & friends 9 Radio 8

Spain Finland


Financial institutions 27 Newspapers, magazines 60

Newspapers, magazines 25 Radio 41

Radio 19 Mailed letter/information 35

France Sweden

Financial institutions 52 Television 42

Television 36 Newspapers, magazines 37


Shop, supermarket 20 Place of education 4

Ireland United Kingdom


Mailed letter/information 11 Newspapers, magazines 6


Radio 9 The workplace 2

Italy

Television 43

Newspapers, magazines 28

Mailed letter/information 23

Financial institutions 20


79

Looking next at the country results for the three most mentioned sources shows that the percentage ofrespondents who have received information about the euro from the television is, like in the spring of 1998,highest in Finland (73%). In the Netherlands (+13), Belgium (+9), Ireland (+7) and Greece (+5), theproportion of people who received information from the television increased significantly since the spring of1998. A very large drop is noted in Luxembourg (-24) while smaller, but still significant, drops are also notedin Italy (-9), Spain (-7), Germany and Austria (both -5). The fluctuations between the spring and autumn of1998 are no doubt caused by the timing of euro information campaigns that were launched through themedia.

Percentage of people who have received informationabout the single currency on TV

76

47

75

58

45

54

47

54

4541 43 41

34 35

19 17

95

73

5651 51 50 49

44 43 4239 40

36 3633 32

1916

8

FIN B L E GR D EURO11 I S EU15 DK A F P NL "PRE -INS"

IRL UK0

20

40

60

80

100%

% in Spring 1998 % in Autumn 1998

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.9c


There are hardly any respondents in the "pre-in" countries who have received information about the eurofrom a financial institution. However, there are also two "EURO 11" countries - Portugal and Ireland - whereless than 1 respondent in 10 has received information this way. Among the remaining 9 countries in theeuro-zone, the proportion ranges from 52% in France to 20% in Italy. In all these countries, large increasesare noted since the spring of 1998.


80

Percentage of people who have received informationabout the single currency from financial institutions

39

25

1721 19

25

14

22

1510

5 4 4 3 3 1 1 0

5247

39 3834

31 31 3027 27

20

85 4 3 2 1 1

F L NL D EURO11 A FIN B EU15 E I IRL P DK S GR "PRE-INS"

UK0

20

40

60

80

100%


Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.9d


Finland is the only country where more than half of the respondents have received information from thepress. At 43%, Luxembourg comes in second place, although a sharp drop is noted since the spring of 1998(-15). In the Netherlands (+12) and Belgium (+8), the proportion of people who have received informationabout the euro from the press increased significantly since the spring of 1998.

Percentage of people who have received informationabout the single currency through the press

65

58

4539

28

21

33 34 33 3428

31

2216

11 127

4

60

43 4137 36

33 31 30 28 27 26 2522

1411 10 10

6

FIN L D S B NL EURO11

A I DK EU15 E F GR "PRE-INS"

P IRL UK0

20

40

60

80

100%


Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 4.9e



81

Seven in ten European Union citizens are of the view that information about the euro should be availablefrom financial institutions and the television. The other media sources are also quite popular.

70

69

53

40

33

33

30

27

22

21

19

19

13

9

3

1

In banks, saving banks and the like

On television

In the press

On radio

In public offices

In schools/other places of education

In supermarkets and shops

In my letter box

In the workplace

From consumer organisations

On the Internet, Teletext, Minitel, Ceefax, etc.

In public libraries

From unions, professional organisations

From family and friends

Don't know

Somewhere else

Where should useful information on the euro and thechange-over be available?

(EU15)


The following table shows, for each Member State, the top four sources where people would believeinformation about the euro should be available. In every country, financial institutions and the televisioncome in first or second place. Even in the "pre-in" countries, more than half of the public believes financialinstitutions should provide information. Thus, in the "pre-in" countries, demand is far higher than supply asless than 10 percent of respondents say they have received information this way. The proportion of peoplewho would like to receive information about the euro on television ranges from 81% in Sweden to 59% inIreland. Newspapers and magazines make the top four in all Member States with the exception of Portugal(31%). People in Sweden (72%) are most likely to believe that information should be available in the press,while this is least the case in Greece (30%). The radio makes the top four in 9 of the 15 Member States,being most popular in Sweden (64%) and least popular in Italy (26%) . Public libraries make the top four inthe Netherlands (55%) Denmark (51%) and the UK (45%). They are also quite popular in Sweden (46%). InGreece (4%), Austria (8%), Spain and Italy (both 9%), less than 10% of the public believes public librariesshould provide useful information. France (49%) and Portugal (37%) are the only two countries where shopsand supermarkets make the top four. However, demand is also quite widespread in Belgium (44%), the UK(39%) and Ireland (37%). It is least widespread in Denmark (8%) and Greece (9%). Italy is the only countrywhere places of education (39%) makes the top four. However, this source is even more popular in Sweden(57%), the Netherlands (45%), France (43%) and the UK (40%). Spain and Greece (both 17%) are the onlycountry where less than 2 in 10 people think useful information about the euro should be available in placesof education. (See also table 4.9)


82

TOP FOUR MOST MENTIONED SOURCES WHERE PEOPLEBELIEVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EURO SHOULD BE AVAILABLE

(IN %, BY MEMBER STATE)

Belgium Luxembourg

Financial institutions 79 Financial institutions 74



Radio 49 Radio 48

Denmark Netherlands




Public libraries 51 Public libraries 55

Germany Austria




Radio 41 Radio 45

Greece Portugal



Public offices 31 Shop, supermarket 37


Spain Finland




Radio 38 Radio 50

France Sweden

Financial institutions 88 Television 81

Television 65 Financial institutions 75


Shop, supermarket 49 Radio 64




Radio 44 Newspapers, magazines 54

Newspapers, magazines 42 Public libraries 45

Italy

Television 71

Financial institutions 56

Newspapers, magazines 47

Places of education 39


83

5. Current policy issues: enlargement

As we already noted in Chapter 3, the European Union is preparing for enlargement as numerous central,eastern and southern European nations have applied for membership. In the spring of 1998, accessionnegotiations commenced with the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia.Simultaneously, the Commission set up Accession Partnerships with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romaniaand Slovakia to help speed up their preparations for membership33. In September 1998, the Maltesegovernment asked to reactivate its 1990 membership application, which the previous government suspendedin 1996. In this chapter, we look at how the public feels about each of these 12 countries becoming part ofthe European Union. We begin, however, with an assessment of people's general attitudes towardsenlargement. We also examine the importance people place on the enlargement criteria34.

5.1. Attitudes to enlargement

Although quite a few EU citizens still lack an opinion when it comes to enlargement35, it is in many respectsviewed positively. 72% believe that an increase in the number of Member States will make the EuropeanUnion a more important player on the world stage. Furthermore, 64% of EU citizens believe that enlargementwill increase the cultural richness of the European Union and that more peace and security will beguaranteed in a larger European Union. (Only 36% of people are of the opinion that their country willbecome less important as a result of enlargement.)

However, people are less optimistic when it comes to the economic aspects of enlargement. 47% of EUcitizens believe that their country will receive less financial aid from the European Union once new countrieshave joined. An equal proportion disagrees with the statement that "enlargement will not cost more toexisting member countries". Nonetheless, quite a few citizens (36%) show an altruistic side in agreeing thatfuture member countries should start to receive financial aid from the EU to help them prepare to join.Another less optimistic finding is that a substantial minority of EU citizens (35%) agree that "the morecountries there are, the more unemployment there will be" in their country.

When it comes to preparing the European Union for enlargement, the majority of the public shares the viewof the policymakers. 54% and 52%, respectively, agree that the EU must reform the way its institutions workand that the euro has to be in place before new members can join36. The individual country results areshown in Table 5.1.

33 These countries were not yet in a position to fulfil the criteria for joining. These criteria were agreed in June 1993during the European Council in Copenhagen.

34 More information about the Commission's enlargement policy can be found on the Internet:http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg1a/enlarge/index.htm

35 The proportion of "don't know" responses for all the statements about enlargement continues to be substantiallyhigher than what we usually find on this survey, which indicates that public opinion has not yet fully developed andcould still change as the enlargement process progresses.

36 In Chapter 3, we already noted that reforming the European Union is seen as a priority by 49% of Europeans and thatsuccessfully implementing the euro is seen as a priority by 67% of Europeans.


84

Attitudes towards enlargement of the EU(EU15)

72

64

64

54

52

47

36

36

35

30

14

19

22

16

25

28

44

48

41

47

The more member countries within the EU, the more

With more member countries, Europe will be cultura

The more countries are in the EU, the more peace a

The EU must reform the way its institutions work b

The single European currency, the euro, has to be

Once new countries have joined the EU, our country

From now on, future member countries should start

After the enlargement to new countries, our countr

The more countries there are, the more unemploymen

The enlargement will no cost more to existing memb

% Tend to agree % Tend to disagree

The more countries within the EU, the moreimportant it will be in the world

With more member countries, Europe will beculturally richer

The single European currency, the euro, has to bein place before new countries join the EU

The EU must reform the way its institutions workbefore welcoming new members

Once new countries have joined the EU, ourcountry will receive less financial aid from it

The more countries there are in the EU, the morepeace and security will be guaranteed in Europe

The more countries there are, the moreunemployment there will be in our country

After the enlargement to new countries, ourcountry will become less important in Europe

From now on, future member countries should startto receive financial aid from the EU to help themprepare to join

The enlargement will not cost more to existingmember countries




85

5.2. Criteria that applicant countries should meet

During the 1993 Copenhagen European Council, the Heads of State and Government agreed on a numberof criteria which countries wishing to join the European Union had to meet37. Eurobarometer results showthat there is widespread public support for these criteria, with a large majority of EU citizens saying that eachof them is important.

Importance of enlargement criteria(EU15)

94

92

91

83

80

79

73

67

2

3

4

8

12

11

18

19

The country has to respect human rights and the pr

It has to fight organised crime and drug trafficki

It has to protect the environment

It has to be able to pay its share of the EU budge

Its joining should not be costly for existing memb

It has to accept whatever has already been decided

Its level of economic development should be close

It has to be prepared to put the interest of the E

% Important % Not important

The country has to respect Human Rights and theprinciples of democracy

It has to fight organised crime and drug trafficking

It has to accept whatever has already beendecided and put in place throughout the processof building Europe

It has to be able to pay its share of the EU budget

Its joining should not be costly for existing membercountries

It has to protect the environment

Its level of economic development should be closeto that of other Member States

It has to be prepared to put the interest of the EUabove its own

Percentage "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 5.2Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

The public is more or less unanimous in its view that applicant countries should a) respect Human Rightsand the principles of democracy, b) fight organised crime and drug trafficking and c) protect the environmentif they wish to join the European Union. The public's concern about the financial implications of enlargementis also evident from the widespread importance placed on the economic criteria.

The majority of EU citizens also feels that applicant countries have to accept whatever has already beendecided and put in place throughout the process of building Europe and that these countries have to put theinterests of the EU above its own. (Table 5.2)

The next table shows that the average level of support for the 8 criteria ranges from nearly 90% in Greece,France and the Netherlands to 73% in Portugal, which comes last not because people don't consider thecriteria as important but because quite a few people lack an opinion. While this factor also explains Spain'sscore, below average scores in Denmark and Sweden are more linked to the fact that people in these twocountries are significantly less likely than people in the other Member States are to consider some of thecriteria as important. This is further highlighted by the high spread in these two countries between the itemwith the lowest % saying "important" and the item with the highest % saying "important". In Finland, thespread is also significantly above average.

37 The Commission on November 4, 1998 published a report, detailing the applicant countries' progress in meetingthese criteria. It can be found on the Internet:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg1a/enlarge/report_11_98_en/index.htm


86

% OF POPULATION IN EACH OF THE MEMBER STATES THATREGARDS THE ENLARGEMENT

CRITERIA AS IMPORTANT(AVERAGE % OF 8 CRITERIA AND SPREAD FROM LOWEST %

IMPORTANT TO HIGHEST % IMPORTANT)

Country Average % Spread

Greece 89% 20

France 88% 21

The Netherlands 87% 29

Germany 85% 21

Belgium 84% 30

Luxembourg 83% 25

EU15 83% 27

Ireland 82% 30

Austria 82% 21

Italy 81% 26

Finland 80% 53

United Kingdom 79% 37

Sweden 78% 56

Spain 77% 29

Denmark 74% 61

Portugal 73% 36

The next table provides further insight. It shows that people in Denmark (37%), Sweden (42%) and Finland(45%) are considerably less likely than other EU citizens to believe that in order for applicant countries to jointhey should put the interests of the EU above their own. However, the table also shows that people in allthree countries, but particularly in Finland and Denmark, are now more likely to regard this criteria asimportant than they were in the spring of 1998.

As can be seen, some interesting shifts have taken place since the question was last asked. In manycountries, people are significantly less likely to consider the economic development of the applicant countryas an important criteria. On the other hand, besides Finland and Denmark, there are several other countrieswhere the proportion of people who believe it is important that applicant countries put the interests of the EUabove their own has increased significantly.


87

CRITERIA FOR JOINING THE EU% CONSIDERING EACH CRITERIA AS IMPORTANT AND % CHANGE BETWEEN

SPRING 1998 (EB49) AND AUTUMN 1998 (EB50) FOR EACH MEMBER STATE

MemberState

HumanRights

Econ.dev.

AcceptAcquis

Not becostly

Put EUintereston top

Fightcrime &drugs

Protectenviron-

ment

Paybudgetshare

B95%

-165%-12

87%-2

86%+4

68%-6

92%-1

93%+2

88%0

DK98%

056%

-372%+3

58%+4

37%+4

98%+2

99%+1

76%+1

D95%

080%

-476%

-483%

-274%

-192%

092%

087%

0

GR98%+2

78%-4

85%+2

92%+9

79%+11

98%+5

97%+3

88%+4

E92%

-265%

-973%

074%

064%+1

89%-1

88%-1

72%-4

F98%

079%

091%+2

83%+4

77%+3

95%+1

93%0

90%+4

IRL94%

065%

-880%

-378%

-173%+1

95%+1

93%0

74%-3

I95%+1

72%-5

78%+4

79%+2

68%+5

91%+3

88%-1

77%-2

L94%+4

78%-3

86%+3

70%-4

75%0

91%+4

92%+6

77%-5

NL99%+1

73%-3

95%+1

79%+2

69%0

98%0

95%-3

84%-5

A88%

-881%

-678%

-380%

-768%

-389%

-489%

-582%

-6

P86%

-653%-17

72%-3

67%-4

60%-4

89%-1

87%-2

68%-6

FIN98%+1

68%-3

71%+1

83%+2

45%+7

96%+1

95%+1

87%-1

S98%

063%

080%+1

70%-5

42%+2

97%-1

98%0

82%-3

UK91%

-171%

074%

-278%

-155%

-292%

090%

-284%

-1

EU1594%

-173%

-479%

080%+1

67%+1

92%0

91%-1

83%-1


88

5.3. Support for enlargement

For each of the 11 applicant countries and Malta, respondents were asked whether they are in favour of oragainst it becoming part of the European Union.

52

50

47

45

45

40

39

39

39

38

37

36

25

28

32

31

31

36

36

36

36

36

40

38

Malta

Hungary

Poland

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Slovakia

Estonia

Bulgaria

Latvia

Lithuania

Romania

Slovenia

% In favour % Against

Support for enlargement(EU15)

Percentage "don't know" not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 5.3Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

Support is highest for the Mediterranean island of Malta and ranges from 72% in Greece to 39% in Belgium.The league table shows that the next highest levels of support are for 4 of the 6 countries with whomaccession talks have now started. Support for Hungary ranges from 69% in Denmark and 68% in Swedenand Finland to 30% in Belgium. For Poland, which comes third, support ranges from 76% in Denmark to24% in Austria. As expected, support for Cyprus - which comes fourth in the support league - is highest inGreece (89%), followed at a distance by Sweden (56%) and the UK (55%). Support for Cyprus is lowest inBelgium (34%). The Czech Republic comes 5th in the support league, with people in Sweden (69%) mostfavourable and people in Belgium (30%) least favourable. Support for Estonia, another "qualifying" nation isobtained from more than 7 in 10 Scandinavians but less than 3 in 10 people from Belgium and Austria. Thefive other applicant countries come next in the league table. Support for Bulgaria ranges from 56% inSweden and Greece to 17% in Austria. Support for Latvia ranges from 77% in Denmark to 26% in Belgium.Support for Lithuania ranges from 77% in Denmark to 23% in Belgium. Support for Romania ranges from58% in Greece to 15% in Austria. Support is lowest for Slovenia - which is a "qualifying" nation and rangesfrom 54% in Sweden to 23% in Belgium. (Table 5.3)


89

The above-mentioned ranges indicate that people in some of the EU Member States are more in favour ofenlargement than people in other Member States are. The next table shows the average support level forthe 11 applicant countries and Malta as a whole. On average, people in Sweden (63%) tend to be mostsupportive while people in Belgium (28%) tend to be least supportive. The table also shows the spread ofsupport levels in each of the Member States. In some countries, where the spread is low, people holdsimilar attitudes towards all the applicant countries. This is particularly the case for Spain and Portugal, butalso holds in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Ireland and Sweden. In Austria and Greece, the spread is thehighest. In Greece this is due to the fact that support for Cyprus is significantly above average. In Austriathis is due to the fact that support for Hungary is significantly above average while support for Romania andBulgaria is significantly below average. The last column of the table depicts the average % of "don't know"responses in each Member State. Once again, we note that a significant proportion of Europeans does notyet hold an opinion, which implies that support levels may change as the enlargement process develops.

% OF POPULATION IN EACH OF THE MEMBER STATES IN FAVOUR OFAPPLICANT COUNTRIES BECOMING PART OF THE EU

(AVERAGE % SUPPORT FOR THE 12 APPLICANT COUNTRIES,SPREAD FROM LOWEST TO HIGHEST % SUPPORT,AND AVERAGE % OF 'DON'T KNOW' RESPONSES )

Country Average %Support Spread

Average % of'Don't know'responses

Sweden 63% 18 19%

Denmark 61% 32 13%

Greece 61% 38 11%

Finland 52% 34 16%

The Netherlands 51% 21 16%

Spain 51% 5 34%

Italy 48% 20 24%

United Kingdom 44% 30 29%

EU15 42% 16 24%

Portugal 42% 7 37%

Ireland 41% 18 36%

Luxembourg 36% 17 23%

France 35% 16 20%

Germany 34% 31 22%

Austria 30% 38 19%

Belgium 28% 16 20%


90

6. Sources of Information and knowledge levels among EU citizens

In this chapter we look at where people look for information about the European Union, the role of the media,and people's self-perceived knowledge of the European Union. We also look at the extent to which EUcitizens speak other languages besides their mother tongue.

6.1. Sources of information about the European Union

When asked where they look for information about the European Union, six in ten respondents say they turnon the television38. 41% of respondents read the daily newspapers and 24% listen to the radio in order toget information about the European Union. With any other source mentioned by less than 2 in 10respondents, the media is clearly the most popular place where EU citizens look for information about theEuropean Union.

The country by country analyses show that the use of the television as a source of information about the EUis most widespread in Belgium, Luxembourg (both 70%) and Germany (69%) and least widespread in theNetherlands (41%), the UK (44%) and Sweden (46%).

Daily newspapers are most widely read to obtain EU information by people in Germany (58%) andLuxembourg (57%) and least widely consulted in Greece (17%) and Portugal (18%).

Around half of the people in Luxembourg and East Germany listen to the radio when they seek informationabout the EU. In Belgium (43%) and Austria (40%) the radio is also a fairly widely consulted source ofinformation, while less than 2 in 10 people in the UK (13%), Italy (15%), Portugal, Greece (both 17%) andthe Netherlands (19%) listen to it for this purpose.

The Internet is mentioned as a source of information about the EU by around 2 in 10 people in theNetherlands, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. In all other countries, this source of information is consulted byless than 1 person in 10. (Table 6.1)

38 This is asked as an "open" question meaning that respondents spontaneously answer without being given anyprompts. Interviewers are instructed to probe fully.


91

60

41

24

17

16

13

6

5

3

2

2

2

1

1

17

1

4

The television

Daily newspapers

The radio

Discussions with relatives, friends, colleagues

Other newspapers, magazines

Books, brochures, information leaflets

The Internet

Notice boards in libraries, town halls, stations,

EU-information offices, Euro info-Centers,

Meetings

Specialised national or regional government

Trade unions or professional associations

Contact with a member of European Parliament or

Other organisations

Never look for such information / not interested

Other

Don't know

Where do people look for informationabout the EU

(EU15)

Source: Eurobarometer 50.0 - Fieldwork: Oct / Nov 1998Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 6.1

post offices

information offices

Euro info - points, Euro - libraries

of national Parliament


92

Respondents were also asked to indicate their preferred method(s) of receiving information about theEuropean Union from a list of 12 pre-defined sources. The television is not only the most widely consultedmedium; it is also clearly the most preferred source (56%). At 35%, daily newspapers come in second place,followed by "a detailed brochure" (26%) and the radio (22%). The newer non-printed information tools, suchas videotapes, the Internet (both 8%), CD-ROMs (6%) and computer databases (4%) continue to be lesspopular than printed sources. Of these "modern" tools, only the Internet is increasing, albeit slowly, inpopularity.

Preferred method for receiving information about the EU

56%

35%

26%

22%

19%

14%

11%

8%

8%

6%

4%

2%

3%

5%

From the television

From daily newspapers

A more detailed brochure

From the radio

A short leaflet

From other newspapers, magazines

A book giving you a complete description

A video tape

On the Internet

A CD-ROM

From data bases on a computer terminal

None of these ways

Don't know

I do not want information

(EU15)


The country analyses reveal that people in Greece (74%) are most likely to prefer the television as a sourceof EU information, followed by people in Portugal (69%), Denmark (64%), Belgium and Italy (both 61%).Austria (44%), Ireland and the Netherlands (both 49%) are the only countries where less than half of therespondents choose the television as one of their preferred sources of EU information.

Daily newspapers are a preferred source of information for 45% of people in Sweden and Germany, 43% ofpeople in Finland and 42% of people in the Netherlands. Portugal (21%) and Greece (23%) are the only twocountries where less than a quarter of the population chooses the daily newspapers as one of the preferredsources of EU information.

Preference for a more detailed brochure is most widespread in Belgium (37%), the Netherlands, France(both 34%) and Austria (33%) and least widespread in Portugal (12%) and Italy (16%).

Preference for the radio is most widespread in Belgium, Luxembourg (both 33%) and Denmark (32%).People in the UK (17%), Portugal (18%) and Italy (19%) are least interested in this source.

The country analyses also reveal that preference for the Internet continues to be most widespread in thenorthern European nations. At 24% and 22%, the Danes and Swedes are, respectively, the most likely toconsider the Internet as a preferred source. As we have shown in our previous EB report, access to theInternet is highest in these two countries39. (Table 6.2)

39 The 49th Eurobarometer Report, which is based on findings from the spring 1998 survey is available through theInternet: http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/dg10/infcom/epo/eb.html.


93

6.2. The news media and its coverage of EU affairs

Having noted that the media is both a widely consulted and preferred source of EU information, we next lookat the frequency at which EU citizens watch the news on television, read the news in daily newspapers andlisten to the news on the radio. As shall be shown, these media are all commonly used by the public toobtain news information, which explains their popularity when it comes to getting information about theEuropean Union.

News viewership on television

As the table below shows 68% of respondents watch the news on television on a daily basis, with a further19% watching it several times a week.

8178

757473

7170

68

676666

646363

5858

1215

1817

141820

19

1721

19222423

2921

454

4976

8

8611107810

11

22

23322

4

55

33

54

37

11

122

11

2

31112

21

4

FINI

GRNLUK

SDK

EU15

EB

IRLPDLAF

% Everyday % Several times a week % Once or twice a week Less often % Never

News viewership on television

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 6.3aSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998 Percentage 'don't know' not shown

There is relatively little variation between the 15 Member States in the proportion of people who watch thenews on television at least several times a week. At 79%, France is the only country where less than 8 in 10respondents watch the news on television this frequently. (Table 6.3a)


94

News readership of daily newspapers

Around 6 in 10 respondents read the news in daily newspapers every day (42%) or several times a week(17%).

7468

615858

545150

47

42

30292828

1918

1314

1320

1612

251420

17

132123

1513

13

69

108

816

1314

19

15

1919

1421

1419

57

89

911

68

8

13

1516

1619

2018

22

95

875

135

14

2214

1818

3432

SFINNL

DL

DKA

UKIRL

EU15

EI

BF

GRP


News readership of daily newspapers

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 6.3bSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998 Percentage 'don't know' not shown

The country analyses show that in Sweden (87%), Finland (82%), Germany (78%) and Austria (76%), morethan 3 in 4 people read the news in daily newspapers at least several times a week. In the Netherlands,Luxembourg (both 74%), Denmark (66%) and Ireland (67%) this applies to at least 2 in 3 people. Portugal(31%) and Greece (32%) are the only countries where this applies to less than 1 person in 3. (Table 6.3b)


95

News listenership on the radio

News listenership on the radio is also fairly common with around 6 in 10 respondents doing this every day(40%) or several times a week (17%).

6664

6158

5656

5250

45

40

3636

3427

2319

1119

2316

1514

1222

12

17

2715

1516

1515

898

8710

1210

11

11

1311

1118

119

1166

1011

1418

1213

15

1519

1621

2019

632

811

665

19

17

1020

2318

3038

DKIRL

AL

NLS

FIND

UK

EU15

BFEPI

GR


News listenership on the radio

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 6.3cSource: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998 Percentage 'don't know' not shown

Country analyses show that more than 3 in 4 people in Austria (84%), Ireland (83%) and Denmark (77%)listen to the news several times a week or more. In Greece (34%), Italy (38%), Portugal (43%) and Spain(49%) less than half of the population listens to the news on the radio at least several times a week.(Table 6.3c)


96

News coverage of EU affairs in the media

Next, we examine what Europeans think about the amount of coverage dedicated by the media to EuropeanUnion affairs. Respondents were asked the following question:

"Do you think that the amount of coverage given to European Union affairs is far toomuch, too much, about right, too little or far too little in…

a) the news on (NATIONALITY) television?b) the news in (NATIONALITY) daily papers?c) the news on (NATIONALITY) radio stations?"

As the chart below shows, less than 10 % of Europeans believe that any of the three media provide toomuch news coverage of European affairs.

9%

45%

38%

8%

8%

45%

31%

17%

6%

37%

35%

22%

Too much

About right

Too little

Don't know

Television Daily newspapers Radio

Assessment of amount of news coverage ofEU affairs in the media

(EU15)


While a substantial proportion of the population believes the media coverage of EU affairs is about right,there are quite a few people who feel it is too little. 38% feel the television shows too little coverage of EUaffairs, 35% feel this way about the radio and 31% feel this way about the daily newspapers.

The next chart shows how public opinion on this issue varies from country to country and how it has changedin each Member State since the question was last asked in the autumn of 1997.


97

Assessment of amount of news coverageof EU affairs in the media

534342

5043

40

3634

37

5838

43

3625

30

4133

35

4234

36

3330

33

3532

35

3827

31

4329

35

3527

34

2318

23

3427

30

3327

28

3621

27

504041

4841

39

3934

41

4530

36

4431

35

3831

35

3830

33

3230

34

3326

33

3327

31

3724

27

2923

28

2922

29

262323

2421

23

3213

23

I

S

D

NL

GR

EU15

UK

IRL

A

F

DK

P

B

E

FIN

L

% Too little inAutumn 1997

% Too little inAutumn 1998

% Television % Daily papers % Radio

Source: Eurobarometer 50.0 - Fieldwork: Oct / Nov 1998Eurobarometer 48 - Fieldwork: Oct / Nov 1997

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 6.4b


98

Focusing first on the current situation shows that people in Italy (50%), Sweden (48%), the Netherlands(45%) and Greece (44%) are most likely to feel that the television doesn't show enough coverage of EUaffairs, while people in Finland (24%), Spain (26%), Belgium and Portugal (both 29%) are least likely toshare this view. People in Sweden (41%) and Italy (40%) are most likely to feel that the daily papers don'tpublish enough about EU affairs, while people in Luxembourg (13%), followed at a distance by people inFinland (21%), are least likely to share this view. Finally, the data shows that people in Italy, Germany (both41%) and Sweden (39%) are most likely to feel that the radio doesn't broadcast enough about EU affairs,while people in Luxembourg, Finland and Spain (all 23%) are least likely to share this view.

Looking next at how public opinion has changed since the autumn of 1997 shows that in most of the MemberStates people are now generally less likely to feel that the amount of news coverage of EU affairs in all 3media is too little. Exceptions are Greece, where people are now significantly more likely to feel that all threemedia don't provide enough coverage of EU affairs, Germany - where this holds for the television and theradio - and Belgium - where this holds for the daily papers. In Ireland and France, the proportion who feelsthat both the daily papers and the radio provide too little coverage has remained the same. (See also tables6.4a-c)

Perceived fairness of the media's coverage of EU affairs

The survey also measures whether people believe the media covers EU affairs in a fair way. In comparisonto the autumn of 1997, the EU public has on average become slightly more likely to perceive the media'scoverage of EU affairs as fair. The results indicate that frequent users of the news media are more likely tofeel positive about the way the media covers EU affairs than are people who use the news media lessfrequently40. The view that the media's coverage is not fair is held by around a third of the populationregardless of how often people use the news media. The less people use the news media, the more likely itis that they don't feel able to judge whether its coverage of EU affairs is fair or not.

Perceived fairness of the media's coverage of EU affairs byscores on the Media Use Index

Media Use Index:

% sayingmedia

coverage isvery + quite fair

% sayingmedia

coverage is notvery + not at all

fair

+++ 58% 29%

++ 50% 31%

-- 42% 33%

--- 33% 29%

People's views also vary depending on how much they feel they know about the European Union41. 60% ofpeople who feel they know a great deal (i.e. those who put themselves on the higher end of the scale)believe the media's coverage of EU affairs is fair, compared to only 40% of people who feel they know verylittle about the European Union. However, people who feel they know a great deal are also most likely tofeel that the coverage of EU affairs is not fair, while people who feel they know very little are most likely tolack an opinion on the issue.

40 A definition of the Media Use Index is provided in Appendix C.4.6.41 A definition of the Self-Perceived Knowledge Scale is provided in Appendix C.4.7. A more detailed discussion follows

in the next section of this chapter.


99

Perceived fairness of the media's coverage of EU affairs by self-perceived knowledge of the European Union

Self perceived knowledge ofEU affairs (score on scale

From 1-10):

% sayingmedia


% sayingmedia


fair

Knows a great deal about theEU (score 8-10)

60% 35%

Knows a bit about the EU(score 4-7)

57% 31%

Knows very little about the EU(score 1-3)

40% 29%

People's assessment of whether the media covers EU affairs in a fair way also depends on how they feelabout the European Union in general. Those who hold favourable attitudes are far more likely to feel that themedia's coverage is fair than those who hold negative attitudes towards the EU. The view that the media'scoverage of EU affairs is not fair also varies significantly depending on how people feel about the EuropeanUnion in general.

Perceived fairness of the media's coverage of EU affairs bypeople's attitudes towards the European Union

Attitude:

% sayingmedia


% sayingmedia


fair

Much has been achieved interms of integration

60% 27%

Very sorry if EU werescrapped

60% 31%

EU membership is a goodthing

59% 28%

Little has been achieved interms of integration 42% 39%

Relieved if EU were scrapped 40% 39%

EU membership is a bad thing 37% 41%


100

Looking next at how the perceived fairness of the media's coverage varies from country to country showsthat, at 68%, people in Ireland are most likely to believe it is very or quite fair. The Irish were also mostfavourable in the autumn of 1997. 6 in 10 people in Denmark and the Netherlands give the media a positivemark, although a slight drop is noted in both countries since the autumn of 1997. Germany (58%) andFinland (55%) come in fourth and fifth place, respectively, and in both countries an increase in favourableresponses is noted. In Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria more than half of the population is of the view thatthe media's coverage of EU affairs is very or quite fair, while this view is shared by at least 4 in 10 people inall but one of the other countries. Portugal is the exception: it is the only country where 50% of thepopulation believes the media's coverage of EU affairs is not very or not at all fair. (Table 6.5a)

6865 63

5248

57 55

47 47 46 46 4539

44 43

21

68

60 60 5855 54 54 52 50 49 48 46 45 44

40

24

IRL DK NL D FIN L B A EU15 I UK F E GR S P0

20

40

60

80

100%

% Very + quite fair in Autumn 1997 % Very + quite fair in Autumn 1998

Perceived fairness of the media's coverage of EU affairs

Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 6.5

Source: Survey no. 48 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1997Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998

The socio-demographic analyses show that the lower the proportion of "don't know" responses is, the morelikely it is that a group is of the view that the media covers EU affairs in a fair way. There are no significantdifferences among the various groups in the proportions of people who believe that the media's coverage isnot fair42. (Table 6.6b)

42 Self-employed people represent the only socio-demographic group where the proportion of people who feel themedia's coverage is not fair is significantly above average.


101

6.3. Knowledge of the European Union

The large majority of Europeans continue to perceive their knowledge level of European Union affairs asrelatively low43. The EU15 results presented in the table below show that only 25% of EU citizens feel theyknow quite a lot to a great deal about the European Union (i.e. those choosing the numbers 6 through 10 onthe scale).

Self-perceived knowledge of EU affairsin Autumn 1998 (EB50) compared to

Spring 1998 (EB49), in % (EU15)

Scale EB 50 ChangeEB49

Know nothing at all 11% +1%

2 12% +1%

3 16% -1%

4 15% -1%

5 19% 0%

6 11% 0%

7 8% 0%

8 4% 0%

9 1% 0%

Know a great deal 1% 0%

Don’t know 2% 0%

Average score 4.15 -.04

43 Respondents were asked: "how much do you feel you know about the European Union, its policies, its institutions"and were asked to select from a card a number - on a scale from 1 to 10 - which best represents their perceivedknowledge about the European Union. The higher the number they select, the more they feel they know about theEU.


102

Looking at the country results shows that self-perceived knowledge levels vary significantly from oneMember State to the next. The following graph depicts the average scores44 for each of the 15 countries.

Levels of perceived knowledge about the EU

5.154.83 4.6 4.48 4.47 4.42 4.39 4.28 4.17 4.15 4.08 3.89 3.81 3.69

3.42 3.33

A D DK B GR L FIN NL I EU15 F S IRL E UK P1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Average score

Average scores are based on ascale of 1 - 10

"Knowa greatdeal"

"Knownothingat all"


The average scores range from a low of 3.3 in Portugal to a high of 5.2 in Austria. An inspection of thedistribution of responses shows that 41% of Austrians (up from 38% in the spring) feel they know quite a lotto a great deal about the European Union, followed by 35% of Germans (+1) and 32% of Belgians (+7).Only 11% of Portuguese feel this way (up from 9%). Spain (16%; no change), the UK (17%; -1), Sweden(18%; -3) and Ireland (19%; +2) are other countries where less than 2 in 10 people place themselves at thehigher end of the scale. (Table 6.645)

The following table shows the average scores for various socio-demographic groups in the EU. It shows thatopinion leaders, managers, people who stayed in full-time education the longest and the most frequent usersof the media are the groups that give themselves the highest score on the self-perceived knowledge scale.At the bottom of the table we find people who score lowest on the Opinion Leadership Index46 and the MediaUse Index.

44 The average scores, or means, show the central tendency of the responses and represent the sum of the responsesfor each of the ten points on the scale times the value of each point divided by the total number of responses.

45 To make the table easier to read, a recoded version of the scale is presented consisting of four categories: 'know(almost) nothing' - points 1+2; 'know a little' - points 3 -5; 'know quite a lot' - points 6-8 and 'know a great deal' - points9+10.

46 A definition of the Opinion Leadership Index is provided in Appendix C.4.5.


103

Average scores on perceivedknowledge scale for various groups at

the EU15 level

Group Score

Opinion Leadership Index: ++ 5.62

Managers 5.42

Educated up to age 20+ 5.09

Media Use Index:+++ 4.75

Opinion Leadership Index: + 4.67

Self-employed 4.60

Employees 4.59

Men 4.58

Students 4.42

Aged 40-54 4.40

Aged 25-39 4.29

Educated to age 16-19 4.15

Average for EU15 4.15

Media Use Index: ++ 4.10

Aged 15-24 4.02

Opinion Leadership Index: - 4.02

Aged 55+ 3.92

Manual workers 3.89

Unemployed 3.85

Retired 3.83

Women 3.75

Media Use Index: -- 3.54

Educated to age 15 or younger 3.47

House persons 3.43

Media Use Index: --- 2.99

Opinion Leadership Index: -- 2.98


104

6.4. The need for more information

Not surprisingly, people who feel they know a great deal about the European Union are significantly lesslikely than people who feel they know less to desire more information about the European Union. Peoplewho place themselves on the mid-range of the scale (i.e. points 4-7) are, at 71%, particularly keen to find outmore about the European Union.

The desire for more information about the European Union byself-perceived knowledge

Self perceived knowledge ofEU affairs

(score on scale from 1-10):

% wanting toknow more

% happy withwhat they

already know

Knows a great deal about theEU (score 8-10)

52% 46%

Knows a bit about the EU(score 4-7) 71% 27%

Knows very little about the EU(score 1-3)

59% 35%

In the autumn of 1998, 21% of EU citizens feel they really need to know a lot more about the EuropeanUnion, with a further 44% saying they would like to have some more information. Less than a third of thepublic is happy with what it already knows about the European Union.

Although self-perceived knowledge is not the only factor which influences whether people want moreinformation about the European Union, it is thus very likely that the demand for information will be high aslong as there are not many people who feel they know a lot about the European Union.

People in Greece (81%), Italy (79%) and Sweden (77%) are most likely to desire more information. Belgiumis the only country where there are more people who are happy with what they already know (50%) thanpeople who want more information (45%). Other countries where more than 4 in 10 people are happy withwhat they already know are Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.


105

5961

474444

48

44

5341

4937

50303232

34

1816

2226

2028

32

34353837

4243434650

2318

30282719

21

1021

1322

622201811

GRI

SFPE

EU15

FINIRLDKUKNL

ADLB

Desire to know more about the EU


% Really needing to knowa lot more

% Wanting to have some moreinformation

% Happy with what they already know


In a number of countries, a significant increase is noted since the spring of 1998 in the proportion of peoplewho are happy with what they already know about the European Union. These are Finland (+11), Denmark(+10), the Netherlands (+9), Luxembourg (+6), France (+5), Belgium and Germany (both +4). (Table 6.7a)

The following graph matches the percentage of people who feel happy with what they already know aboutthe European Union with the percentage of people who score high (i.e. points 6-10) on the self-perceivedknowledge scale in each country.

Feeling happy with what one already knows about the EUby high scores on the EU knowledge scale

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55% scoring 6-10 on the knowledge scale

%ha

ppy

with

wha

tthe

yal

read

ykn

ow

L

B

IRL

UK

ADNL

EU15

DK

FIN

S

FE

P

GR

I

Source: Survey no. 50.0 - Fieldwork Oct - Nov 1998Standard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 6.7b


106

� There are 6 countries where an above average proportion of people who score high on the self-perceived knowledge scale is matched by an above average proportion of people who feel happy withwhat they already know (see top right-hand quadrangle of the graph)47.

� There are 4 countries where a below average proportion of people who score high on the self-perceivedknowledge scale is matched by a below average proportion of people who feel happy with what theyalready know (see bottom left-hand quadrangle of the graph).

� In the UK and Ireland, the proportion of people who score high on the knowledge scale is below the EUaverage, yet people are more likely than average to feel happy with what the already know (see top left-hand quadrangle of the graph).

� In Greece and Italy, the proportion of people that scores high on the knowledge scale is just above theEU average, yet people are significantly less likely than average to feel happy with what they alreadyknow (see bottom right-hand quadrangle of the graph).

People's desire for more information not only varies depending on how much they feel they know about theEuropean Union. It also depends on their general attitudes towards the European Union.

The need for more information by people's attitudes towards theEuropean Union

Attitude: % wanting toknow more

% happy withwhat they

already know

Very sorry if EU werescrapped

76% 22%

EU membership is a goodthing

71% 26%

Relieved if EU were scrapped 55% 41%

EU membership is a bad thing 54% 42%

The analysis of socio-demographic variables shows that students (76%) are most likely to desire moreinformation about the European Union while people aged 55 and over, including the retired (39%),unemployed people (38%) and people who left full-time education by the age of 15 or younger (37%) aremost likely to feel happy with what they already know. (Table 6.7b)

47 Luxembourg can be considered part of this group of countries, although the proportion of people who score high onthe knowledge scale is somewhat lower than in the other 6 countries and just below the EU average.


107

6.5. Willingness to be pro-active in the search for information

We have seen that:

� very few people feel they know a lot about the European Union

� there is widespread desire for more information about the European Union

� the preferred source of EU information is the television - a passive medium

The question that will be answered next is whether people are willing to be pro-active in the search forinformation.

The graph below shows that 63% of people would be prepared to call a specially reserved free-phonenumber to obtain information about the European Union. Picking up the telephone not only requiresrelatively little work, the fact that the phone call is free also means that it's an action for which people wouldnot incur any financial costs. Only 15% of respondents would be willing to make the phone call if they had topay for it and only 11% would be willing to send a fax if they had to pay for it. This is not to say, however,that some people are not willing to be more pro-active. 46% of the respondents would be willing to go to apublic information office, 36% would be willing to do some research on a computer in a public place, 32%would be willing to go to an information office of the European Commission and 27% would be willing to writeand send a letter to a competent person.

Willingness to be pro-active% saying they would be prepared to...

(EU15)

63%

46%

38%

36%

34%

32%

27%

15%

14%

11%

Call a specially reserved free-phone number

Go to a public information office

Do some research on a computer at home or in the o

Do some research on a computer in a public place

Send a fax to a specially reserved number free of

Go to an information office of the European Commis

Write, send a letter to a person competent in this

Call a specially reserved phone number and pay for

Go to a journalist, who is informed about European

Send a fax to a specially reserved number and pay

Call a specially reserved free-phone number

Go to a public information office

Go to an information office of the European Commission

Send a fax to aspecially reserved number free of charge

Write, send a letter to a person competent in this area

Go to a journalist, who is informed about European affairs

Call a specially reserved phone number and pay for it

Send a fax to a specially reserved number and pay for it

Do some research on a computer at home or in the office

Do some research on a computer in a public place



108

6.6. Knowledge of languages

Nearly half of EU citizens can take part in a conversation in another language than their mother tongue48. Asthe following graph shows, there are large variations between the Member States. In Luxembourg, nearlyeveryone speaks another language well enough. This is also true for more than 8 in 10 people living in theNetherlands, Denmark and Sweden. People in the UK and Ireland are least likely to speak anotherlanguage. In Ireland the proportion who speak another language is higher than in the UK because there arequite a few Gaelic speakers and those Irish for whom Gaelic is their mother tongue nearly all also knowEnglish.

Percentage who can take part in a conversation in anotherlanguage than their mother tongue

98

8683 81

6259 58

5045 45 45 43

3632 31

21

L NL DK S B A FIN D F EU15 GR I E P IRL UK0

20

40

60

80

100%


Among the various socio-demographic groups in the population, the proportion who can take part in aconversation in another language than their mother tongue ranges from 77% of students to only 19% ofpeople who left school by the age of 15 or younger.

48 Respondents were asked: "Which languages can you speak well enough to take part in a conversation, apart fromyour mother tongue?" The percentage in each country that speaks another language is calculated by subtracting thepercentage of "don't know" responses from the total.


109

Percentage speaking anotherlanguages besides the mother tongue

well enough to take part in aconversation (EU15)

Socio-demographic group %

Students 77

Educated up to age 20+ 72

Managers 69

Aged 15-24 65

Employees 57

Aged 25-39 55

Self-employed 50

Men 47

Average for EU15 45

Educated to age 16-19 44

Aged 40-54 43

Women 43

Manual workers 41

Unemployed 40

House persons 31

Aged 55+ 28

Retired 26

Educated to age 15 or younger 19

English is the language which is most widely "spoken" in the EU. While it is the mother tongue for 16% ofthe EU population, a further 31% of EU citizens speak it well enough to hold a conversation. Apart fromEnglish, the rank order of languages more or less follows the rank order of inhabitants. Thus we find thatGerman is the mother tongue for 24% of EU citizens and spoken well enough as a "second" language by 8%of EU citizens. French is spoken by 28% of the EU population, of which more than half are native speakers.Italian is the fourth most widely known language - it counts as many native speakers as French, while theproportion of non-native speakers is significantly smaller (2%). 15% of the EU population speaks Spanish(11% as mother tongue and 4% as other language).


110

Languages and European Union Citizens

16

24

16

16

11

6

2

3

3

1

1

1

31

8

12

2

4

1

1

1

1

4

English

German

French

Italian

Spanish

Dutch

Swedish

Greek

Portuguese

Danish

Finnish

Russian

Other

% Mother tongue % Other language


47

32

28

18

15

7

3

3

3

2

1

1

5

TOTAL

The next table shows the proportion of non-native speakers of English, French, German and Spanish todayin each Member State. The table also depicts how the knowledge of these 4 languages has changed since199049.

Apart from their mother tongue, around 3 in 4 people in the Netherlands, Denmark (both 77%) and Sweden(75%) can speak English well enough to take part in a conversation. Not surprisingly, people in Luxembourg(86%) are most likely to speak French well enough to take part in a conversation. In Belgium, this is the casefor 38% of the population. In both countries, French is one of the official languages. In Luxembourg, 77% ofpeople who do not consider German as their mother tongue can speak it well enough to take part in aconversation. Other countries where many people know German are the Netherlands (59%) and Denmark(49%). The knowledge of Spanish as a non-native language is most widespread in France (11%).

In comparison to 1990, the proportion of people who can speak English well enough to take part in aconversation increased in most of the Member States. The largest increases are noted in the Netherlands(+15), Greece (+13), Belgium, Denmark and Italy (all +9). The knowledge of French increased significantlyamong people in Belgium (+6). The proportion of non-native German speakers dropped significantly inLuxembourg (-11).

49 Before being asked what languages, apart from their mother tongue, they speak well enough to take part in aconversation, respondents in 1990 were asked what other languages they have learned. Since this was not asked in1998, potential context effects require us to be careful in interpreting any change over time. Since Austria, Finlandand Sweden were not yet part of the European Union in 1990 no trend comparison can be made in these countries.


111

Knowledge of English, French, German and Spanish as a "second" language(in %, by Member State)

Year:Country Language

1990 1998 Difference

EU12/15 English 23 31 +8French 11 12 +1

German 7 8 +1Spanish 5 4 -1

B English 32 41 +9French 32 38 +6

German 18 14 -4Spanish 3 3 0

DK English 68 77 +9French 7 10 +3

German 45 49 +4Spanish 2 3 +1

D English 34 41 +7French 8 11 +3

Spanish 1 3 +2GR English 25 38 +13

French 6 7 +1German 4 5 +1Spanish 1 0 -1

E English 10 17 +7French 9 8 -1

German 1 1 0F English 26 32 +6

German 9 9 0Spanish 12 11 -1

IRL French 14 12 -2German 3 4 +1Spanish 2 1 -1

I English 18 27 +9French 16 19 +3

German 3 3 0Spanish 2 4 +2

L English 37 45 +8French 86 86 0

German 88 77 -11Spanish 4 4 0

NL English 62 77 +15French 14 15 +1

German 55 59 +4Spanish 2 2 0

A English NA 50 -French NA 8 -

Spanish NA 3 -P English 23 21 -2

French 23 18 -5German 2 2 0Spanish 7 7 0

FIN English NA 49 -French NA 3 -

German NA 13 -Spanish NA 1 -

S English NA 75 -French NA 5 -

German NA 24 -Spanish NA 4 -

UK French 16 14 -2German 6 5 -1Spanish 2 2 0


112

The next table shows the 3 languages, which are the most widely spoken besides one's mother tongue ineach Member State.

THREE MOST WIDELY SPOKEN LANGUAGES APART FROM THE MOTHER TONGUE(IN %, BY MEMBER STATE)

Belgium Luxembourg

English 41 French 86

French 38 German 77

German 14 English 45

Denmark Netherlands

English 77 English 77

German 49 German 59

French 10 French 15

Germany Austria


French 11 French 8

Russian 4 Italian 5

Greece Portugal


French 7 French 18

German 5 Spanish 7

Spain Finland


Other 1750 Swedish 35

French 8 German 13

France Sweden


Spanish 11 German 24

German 9 Danish 11


Other 1751 French 14

French 12 German 5

German 4 Spanish 2

Italy

English 27

French 19

Spanish 4

50 Other = not one of the 11 languages of the European Union nor Russian, Arabic, Chinese or Japanese.51 Idem.


113

Apart from what we have already shown, the table brings the following to the fore:

• In Ireland, most respondents indicated that the other language they spoke was not on the list provided tothem. We assume that this is Gaelic.

• In Spain, 17% of respondents chose 'other', which no doubt refers to Catalan, Galician, Basque andother regional languages of Spain.

• 35% of people in Finland speak Swedish apart from Finnish.• Apart from Luxembourg and Belgium, French is most widely spoken by people in Italy (19%) and

Portugal (18%).• Danish (11%) is the third most widely spoken other language in Sweden.• Russian is the fourth most widely spoken other language in Germany. In East Germany, 13% of the

population can speak it well enough to take part in a conversation.• Italian is the third most widely spoken other language in Austria.

Asked which two languages people consider the most useful to know apart from their mother tongue52, wefind that English is by far the most popular, followed by French, German and Spanish.

What are the 2 most useful languages to know apart from yourmother tongue?

(EU15)

69%

37%

26%

15%

4%

4%

1%

14%

English

French

German

Spanish

Other official EU languages

Other non - EU languages

Other

Don't know


52 People were asked to name two languages in order to increase the selection of other languages besides English.


114

The following table shows which 2 languages are considered most useful in each of the 15 Member States.

TWO MOST USEFUL LANGUAGES APART FROM THE MOTHER TONGUE(IN %, BY MEMBER STATE)

Belgium Luxembourg

English 83 French 72

French 49 English 60

Denmark Netherlands


German 51 German 42

Germany Austria


French 37 French 44

Greece Portugal


German 42 French 60

Spain Finland


French 45 German 30

France Sweden


Spanish 37 German 49


French 66 French 66

German 56 German 50

Italy

English 83

French 36

In summary, the table shows that the most popular languages are:

• English and German in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands.• English and French in the German-speaking nations, Belgium and the Mediterranean countries, except

for Greece, where German is more popular than French.• English and Spanish in France.• French and English in Luxembourg.• French and German in the two English-speaking nations.

More detailed results on the knowledge and importance of 'foreign' languages in each of the Member Statescan be found in tables 6.9 and 6.10.


115

7. The European Parliament

In June 1999, citizens of the European Union will have the chance to elect the Members of the EuropeanParliament. The powers of the European Parliament have increased significantly since the Assembly waselected directly by the people for the first time in 1979. While in those days the Parliament was in mostinstances only consulted in the decision-making process, the Maastricht Treaty has given the Parliament theco-decision right together with the Council of Ministers in a number of areas. As a result of the AmsterdamTreaty, the number of areas in which the European Parliament shares co-decision-making powers will beextended to cover most of the Union's policies.

In this chapter we examine the public's awareness of the European Parliament and the extent to whichpeople intend to use their democratic right to vote in the June 1999 elections. We also look at the rolepeople think the Parliament plays and should play within the European Union and at people's assessment ofthe European Parliament's ability to protect their interest. We end the chapter by examining which areaspeople think the Parliament should treat as priorities.

7.1. Awareness of the European Parliament through the media

Since 1977, the Eurobarometer has measured the extent to which the public has recently seen or heardanything about the European Parliament in the papers, on the radio or on television. The latestmeasurement shows that 43% of EU citizens have received information about the European Parliamentthrough these three media. As was shown in the previous chapter, these media are the main sources ofinformation about the European Union for most people.


116

How much people have heard or read about the European Parliament through the media depends first andforemost on the extent to which the Parliament has received media coverage in the period just prior to whenthe measurement was taken. Since media coverage of the European Parliament was not particularly intensejust prior to the latest measurement, awareness levels are relatively low53. As the graph above shows,awareness levels are always highest just prior to or shortly after elections when media coverage is mostintense. Awareness levels were highest just before the 1984 elections (75%) and the 1989 elections (70%).They were slightly lower, but still much higher than during non-election periods, in the run-up to the 1979elections (65%) and the 1994 elections (63%).

Awareness levels also depend on how often people watch the news on television, read about it in the dailypapers or hear about it on the radio. As the following table shows, 53% of the most frequent news mediausers heard something about the European Parliament through the media, compared to only 17% of theleast frequent media users.

Awareness of the European Parliament through the media byscores on the Media Use Index

Media Use Index: % Aware % Not aware

+++ 53% 39%

++ 45% 49%

-- 32% 60%

--- 17% 71%

Looking at the country results shows that awareness levels are highest in Finland (62%), Luxembourg (59%)and Austria (58%). In these three countries, the proportion of people who use the media frequently (i.e.those coded as +++ or ++ on the Media Use Index - see Appendix C.4.6) is significantly above the EUaverage (87% in Finland and Austria, 83% in Luxembourg compared to 70% in the EU as a whole). At leasthalf of the people in Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece also heard, saw or read something aboutthe European Parliament in the media in the months just prior to the Autumn 1998 Eurobarometer fieldworkperiod. Awareness levels were lowest the UK (31%), Ireland (32%) and France (38%), which are the onlycountries where less than 4 in 10 people heard, saw or read something about the European Parliamentthrough the media.

53 The Parliament received widespread media coverage in December 1997/January 1998 so that awareness levelswould no doubt have been higher if fieldwork for the survey had been carried out a few months later.


117

6966

51 4946

5350

41

4944

4841

38 39

2832

6259 58

55 54 5350 49 48

43 42 40 40 3832 31

FIN L A DK NL I GR S P EU15 D E B F IRL UK0

20

40

60

80

100%

% Yes in Spring 1998 % Yes in Autumn 1998

Awareness of the European Parliament through the media

Percentage 'don't know' not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 7.2


The graph also shows that in some Member States significant shifts in awareness levels are recorded sincethe spring of 1998. Awareness levels increased significantly in the Netherlands, Sweden (both +8), Austria(+7) and Denmark (+6). In Finland, Luxembourg (both -7) and Germany (-6), awareness levels decreasedsignificantly. (Table 7.1a)

Demographic analyses show that awareness levels are higher among men (50%) then they are amongwomen (37%). Managers (60%) and people who stayed in full-time education until the age of 20 or older(58%) are most likely to have heard, seen or read something about the European Parliament in the mediawhile this is least likely among people aged 15 to 24, people who look after the house and people who leftschool by the age of 15 or younger (all 34%). How much people feel they know about the European Union isanother important factor: 73% of people who place themselves on points 8 to 10 on the scale heard, read orsaw something about the European Parliament, compared to only 28% of people who place themselves onpoint 3 or lower of the self-perceived knowledge scale. (Table 7.1b)

Our analyses also show that people who score highest on the EP Voting Index (see Appendix C.4.8) aresignificantly more likely to have heard, seen or read something about the European Parliament through themedia than people who score lowest on this Index.

Awareness of the European Parliament through the media byscores on the EP Voting Index

EP Voting Index Score : % Aware % Not aware

+ 51% 43%

0 33% 57%

- 27% 64%


118

7.2. Participation in the June 1999 European Parliament elections

More than 7 in 10 EU citizens intend to vote in the June 1999 European Parliament elections. Only 13% ofrespondents say they will not vote while a further 3% say they will not be eligible and 12% don't yet knowwhether they will vote or not.

9289

8685

7775757574

72

70676664

6158

346

412

7131413

13

101416

201820

GRDK

BI

FIRLFINNL

L

EU15

EPS

UKDA

% Yes % No

Percentages 'don't know' and "not applicable" not shown

European Parliament : intention to vote in June 1999 elections


Country by country analyses show that 92% of the people in Greece intend to vote in the elections. The nexthighest levels are found in Denmark (89%), Belgium (86%) and Italy (85%). In all these countries butDenmark voting is compulsory. While Austria is the only country where less than 6 in 10 people say they willvote, the proportion that will not vote is, at 20%, still quite small.


119

8892

8487

7683

74 7276

7370

6662

68

6156

9289

86 85

77 75 75 75 74 72 7067 66 64

6158

GR DK B I F NL FIN IRL L EU15 E P S UK D A0

20

40

60

80

100%

% Yes in Spring 1998 % Yes in Autumn 1998

European Parliament : intention to vote in June 1999 elections



A comparison with the spring 1998 results shows that in most countries the intention to vote has not becomemore widespread now that the date of the elections is less far away. Only in Greece, Sweden (both +4) andIreland (+3) has the proportion of people who say that they will vote increased significantly. In theNetherlands, on the other hand, people are now significantly less likely to say that they will vote than theywere in the spring of 1998 (-8). To a lesser extent, this is also the case in the UK (-4) and Denmark (-3). Inall other countries, the proportion of people who intend to vote has not changed significantly. (See also table7.2a)

Voting intentions are lowest among students (60%) and people aged 15 to 24 (61%), which is of course dueto the fact that many of these people will be too young to vote in June 1999. Managers (84%) and peoplewho stayed in school until the age of 20 or older (83%) are most likely to say that they will vote. Whetherpeople say they will vote or not also depends on how they generally feel about the European Union: 80% ofthose who regard their country's membership to the European Union as a good thing intend to vote,compared to only 59% of people who regard their country's membership as a bad thing. (Table 7.2b)


120

7.3. The European Parliament's perceived and desired importance

As mentioned earlier, the European Parliament will play a more important role in the life of the EuropeanUnion once the Amsterdam Treaty enters into force. At the moment, 55% of EU citizens hold the view thatthe Parliament plays an important role, compared to only 25% who think its role is not important.

People in Greece (74%) are most likely to believe that the Parliament plays an important role in the life of theEuropean Union, followed by people in Luxembourg (70%). At 48%, the UK is the only country where lessthan half of the population perceives the role of the Parliament as important.

65

73

62 6256 56

53 5154 54

5955 55 56

50 51

7470

63 63 6158 57 57 56 56 55 55 53 51 51

48

GR L IRL FIN F P E B DK A I EU15 D NL S UK0

20

40

60

80

100%

% Important in Spring 1998 % Important in Autumn 1998

Current importance of the European Parliament



The latest results do not differ significantly from those obtained in the spring of 1998. The only exceptionsare Greece (+9), Belgium (+6), France (+5) and Spain (+4), where people are now significantly more likely toperceive the Parliament's role as important, and the Netherlands (-5) and Italy (-4), where people are nowsignificantly less likely to perceive the Parliament's role as important. (Table 7.3a)

One would expect that people nowadays are more likely to perceive the Parliament's role as important thanthey were prior to the Maastricht Treaty when the Parliament did not yet have any co-decision-makingpowers. The table below, which compares the results of the Eurobarometer survey that was carried out justbefore the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1991 with the latest results, shows that this is indeed the case inDenmark, France, Greece (all +11), Belgium (+8), the Netherlands (+7). However, the opposite is true inPortugal (-15), Italy (-11), Spain (-9) and the UK (-5).


121

Country shifts in % saying the European Parliamentplays an important role in the life of the

European Union

Country EB 36October 1991

EB50Oct - Nov 1998 % change

B 49 57 +8

DK 45 56 +11

D 54 53 -1

GR 63 74 +11

E 66 57 -9

F 50 61 +11

IRL 65 63 -2

I 64 55 -11

L 67 70 +3

NL 44 51 +7

P 73 58 -15

UK 53 48 -5

EU12 56 55 -1

Analyses of the demographic results show that differences between the various sub-groups in the EUpopulation are mostly explained by variations in the level of "don't know" responses. (Table 7.3b)


122

Looking next at the role the public desires the European Union to play shows that 45% of EU citizens wouldpersonally like it to play a more important role than it does now, while 23% are happy with the role it currentlyplays. Only 10% of people would like the European Parliament to play a less important role than it currentlydoes.

7261

5851

4747

45

4241

39373636

3434

28

1515

1926

2627

23

2635

253337

2024

2723

322

103

8

10

148

1319

716148

19

GRI

PNL

EF

EU15

FINLD

DKBAS

IRLUK

% More important % The same % Less important

Desired importance of the European Parliament


People in Greece (72%) are most likely to desire a more important role for the European Parliament,followed by people in Italy (61%) and Portugal (58%). In all Member States only a minority of people wouldlike it to play a less important role, with people in Denmark, the UK (both 19%) and Austria (16%) mostinclined to feel this way. In Italy, Portugal (both 2%), Greece and Spain (both 3%) there are hardly anypeople who believe the Parliament should play a less important role. It should be noted that quite a fewpeople lack an opinion, with a particularly high occurrence of "don't know" responses recorded in Ireland(31%), the UK, Sweden (both 29%) and Austria (27%).

In a number of Member States large increases are recorded since the spring of 1998 in the proportion ofpeople who would like the European Parliament to play a more important role. These are Greece (+11),Italy, Portugal (both +7) and Ireland (+5). While, people in the Netherlands and Belgium (both -7) are nowless likely to want the Parliament to play a more important role, this does not mean that they want it to play aless important role. Instead, the proportion of people who want it to play the same role has increased in bothcountries. (Table 7.4a)

The demographic analyses show that people who stayed in full-time education until the age of 20 or older(55%), the self-employed and managers (both 53%) are most likely to desire a more important role for theEuropean Union. People who look after the home (38%) and people who left school by the age of 15 oryounger (39%) are least likely to share this view. (Table 7.4b)


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Whether people want the Parliament to play a more important role than it currently does depends on howthey feel about the European Union in general. The table below shows that 65% of people who would feelvery sorry if the EU were scrapped want the Parliament to play a more important role, while only 26% ofpeople who consider their country's membership to the EU as a bad thing or who desire a less important roleof the EU in their daily life share this view.

% wanting the EP to play a moreimportant role than it currently does

Attitude: %

Would feel very sorry if the EUwere scrapped

65

Desires more important role of EUin daily life 63

Feels European and(NATIONALITY)

61

Thinks country’s membership to theEU is a good thing

57

EU15 average 45

Feels nationality only 32

Would feel relieved if EU werescrapped

27

Thinks country's membership to theEU is a bad thing

26

Desires less important role of theEU in daily life 26


124

7.4. Citizens' interests

The survey also measures the extent to which EU citizens feel the European Parliament protects theirinterests. 37% of EU citizens feel their interests are very or fairly well protected by the European Parliamentand 34% feel their interests are fairly or very badly protected. Around 3 in 10 people can't say whether theirinterests are protected well or badly by the European Parliament.

5754

41393938

37

3737373635353534

23

1825

2834

4829

34

3839

5251

3032

3733

38

IRLLI

BDK

A

EU15

FNL

FINGR

EDP

UKS

% Very well + Fairly well % Fairly badly + Very badly


Ability of European Parliament to protect citizens' interests


People from Ireland (57%) and Luxembourg (54%) are by far the most likely to feel that the EuropeanParliament does a good job in protecting their interests. In all other countries less than half of the populationshares this view.

When comparing the data with the results obtained in the spring of 1998, significant positive developmentsare noted in Greece, Portugal (both +5), Belgium (+4) and France (+3). However, the mood is less optimisticin a number of other countries. In the Netherlands (-9), Luxembourg and the UK (both -6), people are nowsignificantly less likely to feel that the European Parliament does a good job in protecting their interests.Furthermore, in the Netherlands (+8), Denmark (+7), Ireland (+6) and Italy (+5), there are now more peoplewho feel the Parliament does a bad job. (Table 7.5a)

The percentage of "don't know" responses is high and ranges from 11% in Finland to 39% in Sweden.(Table 7.5a)

Demographic analyses show that students (44%), people who stayed in school until the age of 20 or older,managers (both 43%), employees (41%) and self-employed people (40%) are most likely to feel that theEuropean Parliament does a good job in protecting their interests. People who look after the home or wholeft school aged 15 or younger (both 30%) are least likely to share this view. As usual, supporters of theEuropean Union (49%) are much more positive than opponents (13%) of the European Union are. (Table7.5b)


125

The survey also measures which area(s) EU citizens want the European Parliament to pay particularattention to in order to defend their interests54.

According to 55% of EU citizens, the European Parliament should pay particular attention to employment .The next most popular area is the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime , mentioned by 37%of EU citizens, followed by environmental and consumer protection (29%). In Chapter 3 we alreadynoted that more than 8 in 10 EU citizens regard these 3 areas as priorities for the European Union as awhole (see Section 3.6). Very few people are of the opinion that the European Parliament should payparticular attention to areas which do not affect them directly, like the Third World (6%) and research (8%) orareas which are seen as the responsibility of national governments, like education and cultural policy (11%)and immigration policy (14%).

Areas for priority action by the EuropeanParliament

(EU15)

52

36

27

24

20

24

21

16

19

13

11

9

6

6

55

37

29

25

23

20

19

17

16

14

11

8

6

5

Employment

Fight against drug trafficking and organized crime

Protection of the environment and of the consumer

Economic policy

Foreign policy and security

Fight against cancer and AIDS

Human rights throughout the world

Social policy

Currency

Immigration policy

Education and cultural policy

Scientific and technological research

Cooperation with developing countries, the Third W

Don't know

% Spring 1998 % Autumn 1998

Employment

Fight against drug traffickingand organised crime

Protection of the environmentand of the consumer

Economic policy

Foreign policy and security

Fight against cancer and AIDS

Human rights throughout theworld

Currency

Social policy

Immigration policy

Education and cultural policy

Scientific and technologicalresearch

Cooperation with developingcountries, the Third World

Don't know


54 Respondents were shown a card listing 13 policy areas and were able to choose a maximum of 3 of these areas.


126

The next table shows that employment tops the list in 11 of the 15 Member States and makes the top four in3 further countries. People in Belgium (73%), Spain (70%), France (69%) are most likely to regard this areaas the top priority for the European Parliament. At 21%, people in Denmark are least likely to regardemployment as a priority and it is the only country where it doesn't make the top four.

The fight against drug trafficking and organised crime tops the list in the Netherlands, Sweden and theUnited Kingdom and makes the top four in all other countries except Spain, where it comes in 5th place.People in Sweden (53%), Ireland (48%), the UK and Denmark (both 47%) are most likely to regard it as apriority, while people in Spain (21%) are least likely to share this view.

Protection of the environment and of the consumer tops the list in Denmark (59%) and makes the topfour in all other countries except Germany and Greece. After Denmark, people in Sweden (51%) are mostlikely to see it as a priority. People in Belgium, Greece and Italy (all 23%) are least likely to share this view.

Economic policy makes the top four in Greece (43%), the Netherlands (35%), Germany (29%), Austria(28%), Italy (27%), Spain (26%) and Belgium (25%). The only countries where less than 2 in 10 peopleregard this area as a priority are Denmark (16%), Luxembourg (17%), Portugal (18%) and Ireland (19%).

Foreign policy and security makes the top four in Germany, Greece (both 37%), Finland (34%) andDenmark (22%). People in Portugal (5%) are by far the least likely to consider this area as a priority for theEuropean Parliament, followed by people in Belgium (11%), Ireland, the UK (both 14%) and Spain (15%).

The fight against cancer and AIDS makes the top four in Portugal (35%), Luxembourg (30%), Ireland(29%) and France (24%). While it doesn't make the top four, a quarter of the population in the UK sees thisissue as a priority for the European Parliament. People in Germany (13%), Sweden (15%), Finland (16%),the Netherlands and Spain (both 17%) are least likely to feel that the European Parliament should payparticular attention to the fight against cancer and AIDS.

Human rights throughout the world makes the top four in Sweden (37%), Denmark (31%), the UK (25%)and Spain (23%). People in Austria (9%), Belgium (10%), Italy (14%) and Portugal (15%) are least likely toview this area as a priority.

The remaining areas do not make the top four in any of the Member States. Social policy is most likely tobe regarded a priority in Germany (25%), the Netherlands and France (both 21%), while this is least likely tobe the case in Sweden, Italy (both 10%), the UK, Ireland and Denmark (all 11%). Currency receives mostwidespread mention in Belgium (23%), Germany (21%) and France (19%) and least widespread mention inSweden (6%), Denmark (7%) and Finland (8%). Germany (22%) is the only country where more than 2 in 10people mention immigration policy . It is mentioned by less than 1 person in 10 in Portugal (2%), Spain,Greece (both 3%), Ireland (6%), Luxembourg, Finland (both 7%), Sweden and Belgium (both 8%). People inthe UK (22%) are most likely to believe that the European Parliament should pay particular attention toeducation and cultural policy , while people in Germany (6%), France (7%) and Italy (8%) are least likely toshare this view. At 14%, scientific and technological research receives most widespread mention inDenmark, while it is least popular in Portugal (3%), Greece and Ireland (both 4%). Denmark (11%) is theonly country where more than 1 person in 10 believes that the European Parliament should pay particularattention to matters relating to the Third World . (Table 7.6)


127

TOP FOUR PRIORITY AREASFOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IN THE MEMBER STATES (IN %)

Belgium Luxembourg

Employment 73 Employment 41

Drugs & crime 43 Drugs & crime 40

Economic policy 25 Environment/Consumers 35

Environment/Consumers 23 AIDS/Cancer 30

Denmark The Netherlands

Environment/Consumers 59 Drugs & crime 44

Drugs & crime 47 Environment/Consumers 38

Human rights 31 Economic policy 35

Foreign policy & security 22 Employment 34

Germany Austria


Foreign policy & security 37 Environment/Consumers 31

Drugs & crime 37 Drugs & crime 31

Economic policy 29 Economic policy 28

Greece Portugal


Economic policy 43 Drugs & crime 45

Drugs & crime 41 AIDS/Cancer 35

Foreign policy & security 37 Environment/Consumers 28

Spain Finland


Environment/Consumers 29 Drugs & crime 42

Economic policy 26 Foreign policy & security 34

Human rights 23 Environment/Consumers 33

France Sweden

Employment 69 Drugs & crime 53

Environment/Consumers 32 Environment/Consumers 51

Drugs & crime 32 Employment 43

AIDS/Cancer 24 Human rights 37


Employment 57 Drugs & crime 47

Drugs & crime 48 Employment 45

AIDS/Cancer 29 Human rights 25

Environment/Consumers 27 Environment/Consumers 25

Italy

Employment 62

Drugs & crime 33

Economic policy 27

Environment/Consumers 23


128

8. The legacy of the 20 th century

The Eurobarometer No.50 was carried out over two waves. Whereas all the results that have beendiscussed so far were asked on the first wave (EB 50.0), this chapter presents the results of a question thatwas asked on the second wave (50.1)55.

Respondents were asked to rate the legacy left to young people in their country by older generations in 11social, economic and political fields.

People in Greece, Finland, Denmark and Ireland are, on average, most likely to view the legacy left to youngpeople as positive. People in Italy, Belgium and France are least likely to share this view.

% OF POPULATION IN EACH MEMBER STATE THAT VIEWS THELEGACY LEFT TO YOUNG PEOPLE AS POSITIVE

(AVERAGE % OF POSITIVE REPONSES FOR THE 11 FIELDS)

Country Average %

Greece

Finland

Denmark

Ireland

The Netherlands

Austria

Sweden

United Kingdom

Spain

Luxembourg

EU15

Germany

Portugal

Belgium

France

Italy

69%

68%

65%

65%

61%

55%

51%

49%

47%

46%

44%

42%

40%

37%

36%

35%

55 The second wave of the Eurobarometer No.50 was carried out between 29 October and 10 December, 1998. Intotal, 16224 respondents from the 15 Member States were interviewed.


129

Nearly 3 in 4 EU citizen rate the legacy left in the area of freedom as (fairly) positive56 (72%). More than halfof the public also feels positive about what younger generations will find in terms of quality of life (58%) andequality (54%). People are most pessimistic when it comes to employment (68%) and the environment(66%).

The legacy of the 20th century(EU15)

72

58

54

47

47

46

42

38

33

27

24

21

33

36

42

43

41

49

52

54

66

68

Freedom

Quality of life

Equality

The spirit of cooperation, solidarity

Social security, welfare

Purchasing power

Working conditions

Personal safety

Morality, ethics

The environment

Employment

% Fairly positive % Fairly negative

Percentage 'don't know' not shownStandard Eurobarometer 50 - Fig. 8.1Source: Survey no. 50.1 - Fieldwork Oct - Dec 1998

56 Respondents could rate the legacy as "fairly negative" or "fairly positive". As usual, they could also reply "don'tknow".


130

The next table lists for each country the four most widely positively rated areas.

TOP FOUR MOST WIDELY POSITIVELY RATED AREAS(IN %, BY MEMBER STATE)

Belgium Luxembourg

Freedom 65 Freedom 71

Quality of life 48 Social security/welfare 61

Working conditions 43 Quality of life 60

Equality 43 Equality 53

Denmark Netherlands


Purchasing power 79 Purchasing power 77

Working conditions 75 Working conditions 77

Social security/welfare 74 Quality of life 75

Germany Austria


Quality of life 61 Personal safety 69

Equality 52 Quality of life 69

Purchasing power 50 Social security/welfare 62

Greece Portugal


Equality 76 Equality 52

Cooperation, solidarity 75 Quality of life 47

Quality of life 74 Cooperation, solidarity 46

Spain Finland


Quality of life 66 Quality of life 82

Cooperation, solidarity 63 Equality 81

Equality 60 Social security/welfare 76

France Sweden


Social security/welfare 53 Equality 76

Quality of life 44 Quality of life 62

Working conditions 42 Purchasing power 60


Quality of life 81 Freedom 70

Freedom 80 Equality 64

Working conditions 77 Quality of life 63

Equality 73 Working conditions 62

Italy

Freedom 68

Cooperation, solidarity 49

Quality of life 47

Equality 46


131

Freedom :This is the area that most people view as positive in all Member States, with the exception of Ireland whereat 80% it comes in second place. Positive views are most widespread in Finland and Greece (both 89%)and least widespread in Portugal (63%), France (64%) and Belgium (65%).

Quality of life :This area comes in first place in Ireland and makes the top four in 13 further Member States. The legacy leftto young people is rated as positive by more than 8 in 10 people in Finland (82%) and Ireland (81%) at theone extreme and less than half of the public in France (44%), Italy, Portugal (both 47%) and Belgium (48%)at the other extreme.

Equality :This area makes the top four in 10 of the 15 Member States. At 81%, Finnish people are most likely to ratethe legacy left to young people as positive, a view that is also shared by more than 7 in 10 people inSweden, Greece and Ireland. Positive ratings are least frequent in France (36%), Belgium (43%) and Italy(46%). They are also fairly sparse in the East German Bundesländer (38%).

The spirit of cooperation, solidarity :This area makes the top four in all the Mediterranean nation. The legacy left to young people is most widelyrated as positive in Greece (75%), followed by Finland (65%), Spain and Ireland (both 63%). At 31%, peoplein East Germany are least likely to feel positive.

Social security, welfare :This area makes the top four in Finland, Denmark, Austria, Luxembourg and France. People in Finland(76%), Denmark (74%) and the Netherlands (73%) are most inclined to rate the legacy as positive, while thisis least likely in Portugal (30%) and Italy (33%).

Purchasing power :This area makes the top four in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. People in Denmark(79%), the Netherlands (77%) and Finland (72%) are most inclined to rate the legacy as positive. France(28%) and Italy (29%) are the only two countries where less than 3 in 10 people share this view.

Working conditions :This area makes the top four in 6 EU nations. People in Ireland and the Netherlands (both 77%) are mostlikely to rate the legacy as positive, followed by people in Denmark (75%) and Greece (70%). People in Italy(21%), Spain (29%) and Germany (33%) are least likely to give a positive rating.

Personal safety :The only country where this area makes the top four is Austria and, at 69%, its people are most likely to bepositive, followed by people in Finland (68%) and Denmark (67%). People in Belgium are least likely to bepositive (21%). Very few positive ratings are also noted in the East German Bundesländer (26%).

Morality, ethics :Positive ratings are most widespread in Greece (71%), followed at a distance by Finland (55%) and leastwidespread in France (25%), Belgium (28%), the UK (29%), Sweden and Germany (both 30%).

The environment :Finland (58%) and Greece (50%) are the only two countries where more than half of the public rates thelegacy in this area as positive. In Belgium, Italy (both 18%) and Germany (19%), this hold for less than 2 in10 people.

Employment :Around 7 in 10 people in the Netherlands (73%), Denmark and Ireland (both 70%) view this area as positive.In Italy, France (both 12%), Spain (17%) and Germany (18%) less than 2 in 10 people share this view.(Table 8.1)

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