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Transcript of EUROPEANS’ ATTITUDES TO SPACE...
Special Eurobarometer 403
EUROPEANS’ ATTITUDES TO SPACE ACTIVITIES
SUMMARY
Fieldwork: May – June 2013
Publication: January 2014
This survey has been requested by the European Commission, Directorate-General Enterprise and
Industry
and co-ordinated by Directorate-General for Communication.
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm
This document does not represent the point of view of the European Commission. The interpretations and opinions contained in it are solely those of the authors.
Special Eurobarometer 403 / Wave EB79.4 – TNS Opinion & Social
Special Eurobarometer 403
Europeans’ attitudes to space activities
Conducted by TNS Opinion & Social at the request of Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry
Survey co-ordinated by Directorate-General Communication (DG COMM “Strategy, Corporate Communication Actions and
Eurobarometer” Unit)
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
1
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 2
MAIN FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................................... 5
I. EUROPEANS’ PRIORITIES IN 20 YEARS’ TIME .................................................................................. 7
1. Main EU priorities in 20 years’ time ................................................................................................ 7
2. Areas where space activities are expected to play an important role in 20 years’ time ................ 8
II. EFFECTS OF SPACE ACTIVITIES ON SOCIETAL ASPECTS ................................................................... 9
1. Space‐derived activities and health improvement ......................................................................... 9
2. Space‐derived activities and the environment ............................................................................. 10
2.1. Climate change understanding...................................................................................................... 10
2.2. Meteorology .................................................................................................................................. 11
2.3. Protection of the environment and agricultural activities ............................................................ 11
3. Space‐derived activities and travel and outdoor activities ........................................................... 13
4. Space‐derived activities and education......................................................................................... 15
5. Space‐derived activities and transport.......................................................................................... 16
5.1. Use of automated vehicles guided by satellite‐based navigation systems ................................... 16
5.2. Prospects of suborbital flights ....................................................................................................... 16
6. Space derived activities and employment .................................................................................... 18
7. Space derived activities and security ............................................................................................ 19
III. EUROPEANS AND SPACE THREATS ................................................................................................ 20
1. Concerns about threats from asteroids and comets hitting Earth ................................................ 20
2. Concerns about threats from space pollution and on disruptions of space‐based services ........ 21
3. Role of space technologies in reducing those threats .................................................................. 21
IV. EUROPEANS AND SPACE EXPLORATION........................................................................................ 22
1. Role of the EU in space exploration .............................................................................................. 22
2. Europe as a partner in an international mission to Mars.............................................................. 24
CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 25
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
2
INTRODUCTION
Space technologies and space-based services are an important part of the daily lives of European citizens in a wide range of areas, including transport, agriculture, weather forecasting and security, to name just a few. They have also an important role in the implementation of a range of European Union policies, from environmental management, through transport and navigation, to co-ordinating responses to natural disasters.
The importance of space activities to the European Union is highlighted in the European Commission’s Communication "Towards a space strategy for the European Union that benefits its citizens"1 issued in 2011. The EU’s space strategy has a range of key objectives: to promote technological and scientific progress; to stimulate industrial innovation and competitiveness; to contribute to economic growth and create jobs; to ensure that European citizens fully benefit from European space applications; and to strengthen Europe’s role in space at an international level.
On 28 February 2013, the Commission also issued a Communication on "EU Space Industrial Policy: Releasing the Potential for Growth in the Space Sector"2 proposing actions to increase skills levels in industry, to support research and innovation, to ensure the EU's independence in space, to make finance and investment more readily available, and to reshape the EU's legislative framework to make it a driver for the industry's competitiveness.
The two flagship EU space programmes currently under way are Galileo, a global navigation satellite system, and Copernicus, the Earth observation programme formerly known as Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). The EU is also supporting space research as part of the seventh framework programme and its successor Horizon 2020.
This survey builds on the research discussed in the 2012 Flash Eurobarometer 355 on Space Activities3 that aimed to gain insight into Europeans' awareness and expectations of space-based services and their opinion of the role that the EU should have in developing space activities and space exploration. The survey has also a prospective dimension since it asked respondents to think 20 years ahead when considering several issues and a range of space activities, and the impact they may have on society.
1 Communication from the Commission COM(2011) 152 final, see http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policiespace/files/policy/comm_pdf_com_2011_0152_f_communication_en.pdf For further information on EU Space policy please see: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/space 2 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2013:0108:FIN:EN:PDF 3 http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_355_en.pdf
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
3
The main objectives of this survey are to:
Explore the opinions of Europeans about the role space-based services and technologies will have in improving their daily lives in 20 years’ time;
Assess the perceptions of Europeans of how space-based services and technologies can assist in addressing societal challenges;
Appraise how concerned Europeans are about space threats;
Consider Europeans’ expectations about the future of space exploration.
The European Commission’s Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry commissioned this survey to measure the attitudes of the European public towards space activities in the European Union and in Croatia. This Eurobarometer was carried out by TNS Opinion & Social between 25 May and 9 June 2013.
Some 27,680 Europeans aged 15 or over were interviewed face-to-face in the 27 Member States of the EU and Croatia by the interviewers of the TNS Opinion & Social network (the interviewers asked the questions in the respondents' home). The methodology used is that of the Standard Eurobarometer of the Directorate-General Communication of the European Commission (“Strategy, Corporate Communication Actions and Eurobarometer” Unit). A technical note concerning the interviews conducted by the institutes of the TNS Opinion & Social network is annexed to this report. It specifies the method used for these interviews as well as the confidence intervals4.
The general analysis and the socio-demographic analyses are based on the average results in the 27 Member States and Croatia. This average is weighted so that it reflects the actual population of each Member State. The report covers the 28 EU Member States. However, because the fieldwork took place before the official date of Croatia's accession to the European Union on 1 July 2013, results are presented for the EU 27 and Croatia.
4 The results tables are included in the annex. It should be noted that the total of the percentages in the tables of this report may exceed 100% when the respondent was able to provide several answers to the same question.
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
4
Note: In this report, countries are referred to by their official abbreviation. The abbreviations used in this report correspond to:
ABBREVIATIONS BE Belgium LV Latvia CZ Czech Republic LU Luxembourg BG Bulgaria HU Hungary DK Denmark MT Malta DE Germany NL The Netherlands EE Estonia AT Austria EL Greece PL Poland ES Spain PT Portugal FR France RO Romania IE Ireland SI Slovenia IT Italy SK Slovakia CY Republic of Cyprus* FI Finland LT Lithuania SE Sweden UK The United Kingdom HR Croatia EU27 European Union – 27 Member States EU15 BE, IT, FR, DE, LU, NL, DK, UK, IE, PT, ES, EL, AT, SE, FI**
NMS12 BG, CZ, EE, CY, LT, LV, MT, HU, PL, RO, SI, SK***
EURO AREA
BE, FR, IT, LU, DE, AT, ES, PT, IE, NL, FI, EL, EE, SI, CY, MT, SK
* Cyprus as a whole is one of the 27 European Union Member States. However, the ‘acquis communautaire’ has been suspended in the part of the country which is not controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus. For practical reasons, only the interviews carried out in the part of the country controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus are included in the ‘CY’ category and in the EU27 average.
** EU15 refers to the 15 countries forming the European Union before the enlargements of 2004 and 2007
*** The NMS12 are the 12 ‘new Member States’ which joined the European Union during the 2004 and 2007 enlargements
* * * * * We wish to thank all the people interviewed throughout Europe
who took the time to participate in this survey.
Without their active participation, this survey would not have been possible.
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
5
MAIN FINDINGS
Expected priorities of Europeans in 20 years’ time
Europeans think that employment (47%) and health (42%) should be the main priorities of the EU in 20 years’ time, while energy (37%) and the environment (33%) are the areas where Europeans are most likely to foresee space activities playing an important role in 20 years’ time.
When comparing the results of the two questions it appears that the environment and security are the two domains where similar numbers of respondents think both that this should be a priority for the EU in 20 years’ time and that space derived technologies and services will play a role in it.
Impact of space activities on societal aspects
Almost six out of ten Europeans think that investing in human space exploration can lead to medical progress (57%).
More than seven out of ten Europeans think space activities can have a positive impact on environmental protection and more efficient agricultural activities (72%), predicting weather factors (74%) and understanding climate change (73%).
Almost six out of ten Europeans (58%) and a majority of respondents in all Member States – except in Slovakia where respondents are divided – think that space activities contribute to job creation in the EU.
More than half of Europeans would be interested in using information derived from observing the Earth from space to help plan travel and outdoor activities (55%).
Almost three-quarters of Europeans think that including subjects linked to space activities in educational materials would encourage students to choose careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (73%), and that teaching subjects linked to space activities at school can help children to better imagine the society of the future (71%).
Almost half of all Europeans (48%), a relative majority, would be ready to use automated vehicles guided by satellite systems in 20 years’ time.
Future sub-orbital flights are expected by Europeans to be most useful for travelling faster between two points (34%) and for transporting urgent or valuable goods to distant destinations (30%).
More than one-third of Europeans (37%) say that the future combination of observations from satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles will improve security in the EU, while 25% think this will be a threat to privacy, and 20% think that both of these statements are true.
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
6
Europeans and space threats
Three Europeans out of ten (30%) are concerned about large asteroids and comets hitting Earth, and 35% are concerned about the disruption of space-based services caused by collisions with other satellites or space debris.
More than six Europeans out of ten (62%) agree that space technologies have a role to play in avoiding threats like asteroids, comets, and space debris collisions.
Europeans and space exploration
There is no clear consensus among Europeans about how important it is for the EU to invest further in space exploration: 47% say it is important, while 46% say it is not important.
Europeans who think that further investment in space exploration is important highlight the following reasons: to develop and test new technologies (63%) and to make unexpected scientific discoveries (53%). These represent 29% and 24% of all the respondents respectively.
Europeans who do not think that further investment in space exploration is important are most likely to say this because they think there are other more pressing issues (72%). This represents a third of all the respondents (33%). This result might be linked to the current overall socio-economic context.
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SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
12
There are interesting patterns when looking at gender, age, educational, and occupational variables:
- Men are more likely than women to say that space technologies and services can be used for weather prediction (76% vs. 70%) and for improving environmental protection and the efficiency of agricultural activities (75% vs. 68%).
- Respondents aged 55+ are less likely to say space technologies and space-based services can contribute in these two areas.
- The longer respondents remained in education, the more likely they are to think space technologies and space-based services can contribute to weather prediction and to improving environmental protection and the efficiency of agricultural activities.
- For both questions, managers (81% and 80%), white-collar workers (78% and 75%) and the self-employed (77% for both questions) are the most likely to think that space activities can contribute to weather prediction and to improve environmental protection and the efficiency of agricultural activities.
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
13
3. SPACE-DERIVED ACTIVITIES AND TRAVEL AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
As an introduction to the question respondents were read the following contextual background “In 20 years’ time, Earth observation from space and other technologies should help to create maps that indicate the probability of threats such as air pollution, water quality or contagious diseases” and then asked whereas they would be interested or not in using such information. More than half of all respondents would be interested in using information derived from Earth observation to help plan travel and outdoor activities (55%).
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
14
At least half of the respondents in all but four countries say they would be interested in using information derived from Earth observation to help plan travel and outdoor activities. The exceptions are respondents in Portugal, Greece (both 46%), Germany (48%) and Malta (49%), although there were relative majorities in all these countries except Greece.
Socio-demographic patterns regarding age, education and occupation variables emerge:
- The older the respondents, the less likely they are to be interested: 69% of 15-24 year olds say they would be interested, compared to 43% of those aged 55+.
- The longer respondents remained in education, the more likely they are to be interested in using this information to plan travel and outdoor activities with 39% of those with the lowest education levels saying they would be interested, compared to 62% of those who completed their education aged 20+.
- Managers (64%) and white-collar workers (65%) are also more likely to be interested than other occupation groups.
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403
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ATE – MULT
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17
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ROMETER 4
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403
CTIVITIES
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SPECIA
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ROMETER 4
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403
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19
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ROMETER 4
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403
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ROMETER 4
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of responption to sce debris.
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403
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country – reducing in Sweden(71%), the
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ROMETER 4
ANS AND
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403
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than womeoration (53%
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ROMETER 4
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403
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ROMETER 4
AS A PART
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ic analysis
ore likely t years as p
er the respose aged 15
ur in ten (3pared to 2
think it imkely to thinsion, comps. 10%).
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403
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than womeart of an in
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think it is immission.
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r the EU to ortant for Ethose who
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Europeans’
ATIONAL
mportant fo
s countrieernational Italy and % in Swede
it is importl mission (3
kely they aompared to
the highescompleted
invest furthEuropeans think this
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or European
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en.
tant for Eur39% vs. 31
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t educationtheir educ
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SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
25
CONCLUSIONS
This survey shows that Europeans are generally positive about the role space technologies and space-derived services have today and will have on future society and in helping face societal challenges. Energy (37%), the environment (33%) and communication (31%) are the areas where Europeans are most likely to foresee space activities playing an important role in 20 years’ time.
Many Europeans clearly see the benefits that space activities can offer. There are also similarities in national results which illustrate the consensus among European citizens on several space issues. Indeed, for most of the questions results are rather similar from one EU Member State to another, and the EU average usually reflects opinion in all countries. It is worth saying that in many cases Eurobarometer surveys show more differences of opinions between countries compared to this survey. A clear majority of respondents in all Member States – except in Slovakia where respondents are evenly divided – think that investing in space activities will contribute to job creation in the EU. More than seven out of ten Europeans think space activities can have a positive impact on environmental protection and more efficient agricultural activities, and understanding climate change. As another example, at least six out of ten respondents in all countries think that space technologies and services can be used to predict weather factors such as winds, sunshine and water availability. Additionally, at least six out of ten respondents in each country think that including subjects linked to space activities in educational materials would encourage more students to choose careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
There are more variations between opinions in different countries about threats from space and about space exploration. There is no clear consensus among Europeans about the importance of the EU investing further in space exploration: 47% say it is important, while 46% say it is not important. It is however worth noting that for those who do not think further investment in space exploration is important, it is most likely to be a matter of priorities. The current poor economic and social climate in the EU may be the main reason why Europeans are divided on this, as the vast majority of those who think it is not important to invest further say that this is because there “are other pressing issues”.
There are some consistent socio-demographic patterns in the opinions of Europeans about space-derived technologies and services. Education seems to be one of the main socio-demographic drivers of the results of the survey. Respondents with higher education levels are generally much more positive about the role and impact of space activities. Men are also generally more positive about the role and impact of space activities, as are younger respondents.
ANNEXES
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
TS1
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 Space derived activities
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Between the 24 May and 9 June 2013, TNS opinion & social, a consortium created between TNS plc and TNS opinion, carried out the wave 79.4 of the EUROBAROMETER survey, on request of the EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Directorate-General for Communication, “Strategy, Corporate Communication Actions and Eurobarometer” Unit. The Special EUROBAROMETER 403 survey is part of wave 79.4 and covers the population of the respective nationalities of the European Union Member States, resident in each of the Member States and aged 15 years and over. The Special EUROBAROMETER 403 survey has also been conducted in Croatia where the survey covers the national population of citizens and the population of citizens of all the European Union Member States that are residents in this country and have a sufficient command of the national languages to answer the questionnaire. The basic sample design applied in all states is a multi-stage, random (probability) one. In each country, a number of sampling points was drawn with probability proportional to population size (for a total coverage of the country) and to population density.
In order to do so, the sampling points were drawn systematically from each of the "administrative regional units", after stratification by individual unit and type of area. They thus represent the whole territory of the countries surveyed according to the EUROSTAT NUTS II (or equivalent) and according to the distribution of the resident population of the respective nationalities in terms of metropolitan, urban and rural areas. In each of the selected sampling points, a starting address was drawn, at random. Further addresses (every Nth address) were selected by standard "random route" procedures, from the initial address. In each household, the respondent was drawn, at random (following the "closest birthday rule"). All interviews were conducted face-to-face in people's homes and in the appropriate national language. As far as the data capture is concerned, CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) was used in those countries where this technique was available. For each country a comparison between the sample and the universe was carried out. The Universe description was derived from Eurostat population data or from national statistics offices. For all countries surveyed, a national weighting procedure, using marginal and intercellular weighting, was carried out based on this Universe description. In all countries, gender, age, region and size of locality were introduced in the iteration procedure. For international weighting (i.e. EU averages), TNS Opinion & Social applies the official population figures as provided by EUROSTAT or national statistic offices. The total population figures for input in this post-weighting procedure are listed below.
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
TS2
Readers are reminded that survey results are estimations, the accuracy of which, everything being equal, rests upon the sample size and upon the observed percentage. With samples of about 1,000 interviews, the real percentages vary within the following confidence limits:
various sample sizes are in rows various observed results are in columns
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50%
N=50 6,0 8,3 9,9 11,1 12,0 12,7 13,2 13,6 13,8 13,9 N=50
N=500 1,9 2,6 3,1 3,5 3,8 4,0 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,4 N=500
N=1000 1,4 1,9 2,2 2,5 2,7 2,8 3,0 3,0 3,1 3,1 N=1000
N=1500 1,1 1,5 1,8 2,0 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5 2,5 2,5 N=1500
N=2000 1,0 1,3 1,6 1,8 1,9 2,0 2,1 2,1 2,2 2,2 N=2000
N=3000 0,8 1,1 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6 1,7 1,8 1,8 1,8 N=3000
N=4000 0,7 0,9 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,5 1,5 1,5 N=4000
N=5000 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,3 1,4 1,4 1,4 N=5000
N=6000 0,6 0,8 0,9 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,2 1,2 1,3 1,3 N=6000
N=7000 0,5 0,7 0,8 0,9 1,0 1,1 1,1 1,1 1,2 1,2 N=7000
N=7500 0,5 0,7 0,8 0,9 1,0 1,0 1,1 1,1 1,1 1,1 N=7500
N=8000 0,5 0,7 0,8 0,9 0,9 1,0 1,0 1,1 1,1 1,1 N=8000
N=9000 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 0,9 1,0 1,0 1,0 1,0 N=9000
N=10000 0,4 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,9 0,9 1,0 1,0 1,0 N=10000
N=11000 0,4 0,6 0,7 0,7 0,8 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 N=11000
N=12000 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 N=12000
N=13000 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,9 0,9 N=13000
N=14000 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,8 N=14000
N=15000 0,3 0,5 0,6 0,6 0,7 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,8 N=15000
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50%
Statistical Margins due to the sampling process
(at the 95% level of confidence)
SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 403 “Europeans’ attitudes to space activities”
TS3
ABBR. COUNTRIES INSTITUTES N° INTERVIEWS
FIELDWORK DATES
POPULATION 15+
BE Belgium TNS Dimarso 1.006 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 8.939.546 BG Bulgaria TNS BBSS 1.025 25/05/2013 02/06/2013 6.537.510 CZ Czech Rep. TNS Aisa 1.026 24/05/2013 06/06/2013 9.012.443 DK Denmark TNS Gallup DK 1.010 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 4.561.264 DE Germany TNS Infratest 1.505 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 64.336.389 EE Estonia Emor 1.008 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 945.733 IE Ireland IMS Millward Brown 1.001 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 3.522.000 EL Greece TNS ICAP 1.002 25/05/2013 08/06/2013 8.693.566 ES Spain TNS Demoscopia 1.008 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 39.127.930 FR France TNS Sofres 1.053 24/05/2013 08/06/2013 47.756.439 IT Italy TNS Italia 1.025 25/05/2013 07/06/2013 51.862.391 CY Rep. of Cyprus Synovate 506 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 660.400 LV Latvia TNS Latvia 1.018 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 1.447.866 LT Lithuania TNS LT 1.023 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 2.829.740 LU Luxembourg TNS ILReS 502 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 434.878 HU Hungary TNS Hoffmann Kft 1.033 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 8.320.614 MT Malta MISCO 500 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 335.476 NL Netherlands TNS NIPO 1.013 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 13.371.980
AT Austria Österreichisches Gallup-Institut 1.034 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 7.009.827
PL Poland TNS OBOP 1.000 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 32.413.735 PT Portugal TNS EUROTESTE 1.007 28/05/2013 09/06/2013 8.080.915 RO Romania TNS CSOP 1.053 25/05/2013 04/06/2013 18.246.731 SI Slovenia RM PLUS 1.005 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 1.759.701 SK Slovakia TNS Slovakia 1.000 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 4.549.955 FI Finland TNS Gallup Oy 1.003 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 4.440.004 SE Sweden TNS GALLUP 1.000 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 7.791.240 UK United Kingdom TNS UK 1.314 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 51.848.010
TOTAL EU27 26.680 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 408.836.283
HR Croatia Puls 1.000 25/05/2013 09/06/2013 3.749.400 TOTAL EU28 27.680 24/05/2013 09/06/2013 412.585.683