European Commission, (2013), Standard Eurobarometer 80, European Commission / Directorate-General for Communication, December.
This report presents the first results of the Standard Eurobarometer 80 survey, which was carried out between 2 and 17 November 2013 in 34 countries or territories: the 28 European Union Member States, the five candidate countries (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Iceland, Montenegro and Serbia), and the Turkish Cypriot Community in the part of the country that is not controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
This “First results” report provides a selection of data on various topics such as the economy and the European political situation. It is published jointly with the results of the Standard Eurobarometer questions on the economic crisis and other political trends in the EU, which are set out in an annex.
The previous Standard Eurobarometer survey of spring 2013 (EB79) was marked by relatively stable indicators regarding the evaluation of the current economic situation, while pessimism for the next twelve months was in decline.
A few days after the beginning of the fieldwork for the present survey, the autumn 2013 forecasts were published by the European Commission. Growth in the second half of 2013 is expected to stand at 0.5% compared to the same period in 2012, representing GDP growth for the whole year 2013 of 0% in the EU, and –0.4% in the euro area. In 2014, economic activity is forecast to expand by 1.4% in the EU and 1.1 % in the euro area. Unemployment statistics were published on 31 October 20134. In September 2013, the unemployment rate in the EU28 had remained stable since August 2013 but had risen since September 2012, from 11.6% to 12.2% in the euro area and from 10.6% to 11% in the EU28.
Since the Standard Eurobarometer survey of spring 2013 (EB79), national elections have taken place in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. Negotiations on the composition of the governments in these four countries were on-going at the time of the fieldwork.
This report focuses on the results obtained in the 28 EU Member States and is divided into six parts. The first part analyses how Europeans perceive their political institutions: national governments and parliaments, and the EU and its institutions. The second part looks at the main concerns of Europeans at personal, national and European levels, and at their expectations for the next twelve months. The report then considers how respondents perceive the current economic situation, while the fourth part is devoted to the euro and the issues raised by the crisis. The report next examines the way in which Europeans perceive the various initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy and whether they think that the European Union is going in the right direction to emerge from the crisis. In a final part, the report looks at European citizenship.
As these questions have been asked in previous Standard Eurobarometer surveys we are able to analyse trends in opinion.
For the full report, press here.
Relevant Posts
- Harteveld, E., (2013), “Fostering a European identity is unlikely to be a successful method for increasing citizens’ trust in the EU”, LSE European Politics and Policy Blog, 27 November.
- Zalc, J., (2013), “European Public Opinion: Is this the end of pessimism?”, Fondation Robert Schuman, Policy Paper No 290, October.
- European Commission, (2013), “Standard Eurobarometer”, N. 79, Spring 2013.