This article is provided in relation to the European Parliament.
- Rising cost of living is the most pressing concern for 93% of Europeans, followed by the threat of poverty and social exclusion (82%).
- The recent crisis has strengthened public support for the European Union. 72% believe their country benefits from being a member of her EU, and 62% consider her EU membership a ‘good thing’.
- Citizens hope the EU will continue to work on solutions to mitigate the effects of the spate of crises
The rising cost of living is the most pressing concern for 93% of Europeans, according to the latest European Parliament Eurobarometer survey released today.
Meanwhile, support for the EU remains high and stable, and citizens expect the EU to continue working on solutions to mitigate the impact of the crisis.
Across all EU member states, more than 7 in 10 respondents are concerned about rising costs of living, highest in Greece (100%), Cyprus (99%), Italy and Portugal (both 98%) I’m getting results. Rising prices, including energy and food, are felt across all educational and socio-professional backgrounds, as well as sociodemographic categories such as gender and age. Poverty and social exclusion threats at 81%, followed by climate change and the escalation of the war in Ukraine to other countries at 81%.
Citizens expect the EU to continue to work on solutions to mitigate the compounding effects of the successive crises that have hit the continent. The high level of support for the EU is based on the experience of the last few years, and the EU has demonstrated a remarkable ability to collectively deploy effective measures. So far, citizens are not satisfied with actions taken at national or EU level. He is just one-third of Europeans who say they are satisfied with the steps taken by their governments or the EU to deal with the rising cost of living.
Looking at the financial situation of citizens, the survey shows that the impact from the poly crisis is being felt more and more. Almost half (46%) of the EU population say their living standards have already declined due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the cost of living crisis. A further 39% have not yet experienced a decline in living standards, but expect the outlook for 2023 to be quite grim. Respondents who say they have difficulty paying bills “most of the time” or “sometimes” have increased nine percentage points from 30% to 39% since fall 2021.
“With more and more families struggling to make ends meet, it’s no surprise people are worried about rising costs of living. Now’s the time to deliver. Take control of your bills and push back inflation.” , to grow the economy. We must protect the most vulnerable people in society, ”said Roberta Mezzola, President of the European Parliament.
The multiple geopolitical crises of the past few years continue to present serious challenges to citizens and policy makers. With inflation at its highest level in decades, citizens want the European Parliament to focus on fighting poverty and social exclusion (37%). Public health remains important to many citizens (34%), as does continued action on climate change (31%). Supporting the economy and creating new jobs (31%) also top the list.
At the same time, recent crises, especially Russia’s war with Ukraine, have strengthened public support for the EU. 62% see her EU membership as a ‘good thing’, one of the best results since 2007. European citizens (66%) value her country’s EU membership, and 72% believe their country will benefit from her EU membership. In this connection, “peace” resurges in the public mind as one of the core and founding reasons for her EU. His 36% of Europeans say her EU contribution to keeping peace and strengthening security is the main advantage of her EU membership. In addition, Europeans believe the EU promotes better cooperation among member states (35%) and contributes to economic growth (30%).
Full results can be found here.
Background
The European Parliament’s Autumn 2022 Eurobarometer was conducted by Kantar from 12 October to 7 November in all 27 EU Member States. The survey was conducted face-to-face, with additional use of video interviews (CAVI) in the Czech Republic and Denmark. A total of 26,431 interviews were conducted. The EU results are weighted according to the population size of each country.
