The Ukraine war, the energy crisis, soaring inflation and the cost-of-living crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic are the top concerns for citizens of the European Union, according to the new Eurobarometer. There are ‘difficulty’.
Polls speak of a “multiple crisis mood” across the continent.
Furthermore, 46% of Europeans admit that their standard of living has already declined as a result of the growing crisis, and 39% expect it to decline this year.
Only 14% do not anticipate any kind of change or impact.
The countries where the decline in living standards is most pronounced are Cyprus (70% of respondents say their living standards are ‘already falling’), Greece (66%), Malta (65%) and France. (62%), Portugal (57%), the report shows.
People in the Nordic countries are most satisfied with their current income, with 87% in Sweden, 86% in Denmark and 84% in Finland compared to only 21% in Greece and Bulgaria. .
Even more worrisome, 39% of respondents admitted that they “sometimes” struggle to pay their monthly bills, and 9% said they “most of the time.” Again, Greece and Bulgaria report the highest proportions of their population experiencing this type of hardship, at 86% and 64% respectively.
Overall, 56% of Europeans express dissatisfaction with measures taken at EU level to address rising costs of living, and 64% feel the same about actions taken by their governments.
In total, 93% of poll participants say they are concerned about the cost of living crisis, including rising food and energy prices. Poverty and social exclusion (82%), climate change (81%) and the possible spread of war in Ukraine to neighboring countries (81%) are also causes of anxiety among EU citizens.
In particular, nearly three-quarters confessed to worrying about the “risk of a nuclear accident”. inflammatory rhetoric from the Kremlin.
Despite these widespread fears and struggles, European support for Ukraine remains unwavering, with 74% of EU citizens supporting the EU’s response to the war and 23% opposing it.
Support for EU aid to Ukraine is overwhelming among respondents in the northern regions: 97% in Sweden, 95% in Finland, 93% in the Netherlands and 92% in Denmark.
Only Slovakia (49%), Greece (48%) and Bulgaria (48%) have this support below the 50% threshold.
When asked about the broader effects of war, 65% of those surveyed said they were either ‘not very confident’ or ‘not at all confident’ that their personal lives would remain unchanged. I’m here.
The Eurobarometer, released by the European Parliament on Thursday morning, is based on over 26,000 face-to-face interviews conducted between October and November in all 27 member states.
In addition to the cost of living and Ukraine, the results also touch on the EU as a whole, its institutions and the 2024 parliamentary elections.
The percentage of people who have a positive image of the EU has fallen from 52% in May to 47% in November, but there are wide variations across countries. At the same time, 62% see their country’s EU membership as a ‘good thing’, as opposed to a minority (10%) who see it as a ‘bad thing’.
Still, more than half of respondents (51%) say things are going ‘wrong’ in the EU, and just under a third say they’re going ‘right’.
Pessimism runs even deeper within our borders. His 62% of EU citizens say the situation in their country is going “in the wrong direction”.
Interestingly, 63% of participants claimed that things were going “in the right direction” in their personal lives, reflecting a clear dissonance between their home environment and the political climate. increase.
People in Luxembourg (82%), Ireland (80%) and Sweden (80%) are most satisfied with their current state of private life, compared to Romania (49%), Poland (47%) and Portugal ( 46%) people are more mixed %).
A majority of Europeans (57%) are optimistic about the future of the EU, while 39% describe themselves as quite or very pessimistic. France, Cyprus and Greece are the only Member States where a pessimistic outlook represents a majority opinion.
