Eurobarometer

In 2006, the European Commission selected the consortium led by the Gallup Organization to run its Flash Eurobarometer opinion polls. The Flash Eurobarometer surveys enable European policy-makers to hear the voices of the EU citizens in the 27 Member States. Gallup has worked with the Commission on almost 100 Flash Eurobarometer surveys (with over 1.5 million interviews) on subjects from the euro to consumer protection, and from higher education to energy policies.

Latest releases:

March 11, 2010: EU citizens less likely to take a vacation outside of the EU in 2010

When asked about their 2010 holiday destination, roughly a third (32%) of EU citizens said they were planning to stay in their home country. Comparing 2009 and 2010 results showed that EU citizens were now less likely to be planning a holiday outside of the EU (15% vs. 20% in 2009). As to how many EU citizens would actually take a vacation in 2010, no clear picture emerged. At the time of the survey (February 2010), 28% of EU citizens were undecided about the type of vacation they wanted to take.

The proportion of EU citizens who were certain that they would not travel in 2010 (21%) was below the proportion of those who had not travelled in 2009 (33%). It remains to be seen what proportion of undecided citizens (28%) would eventually take a holiday. Turkish respondents were the most likely not to be planning a holiday in 2010 (44%), followed by respondents in Hungary (40%), Slovakia (36%), Italy and Malta (both 35%). The proportions of those undecided about vacation plans in 2010 were the highest in Italy and Portugal (both 35%). See Flash 291 for full report.

March 8, 2010: Influenza H1N1 ("swine flu") - European public aware and informed

An EU-wide survey in November 2009 showed that 86% of citizens were both aware of H1N1 flu and understood what it meant. Over half of citizens (57%) were not concerned that the H1N1 flu pandemic might develop into a serious risk in their countries. Furthermore, half of the public (50%) felt that the media paid too much attention to this flu pandemic. As for opinions about the seasonal vaccination that was available to protect people against flu, a majority of EU citizens did not believe that this would provide any protection against "swine flu" (60%). Only 1% of citizens had already been vaccinated specifically against H1N1 flu, and over half (54%) felt it was unlikely that they would be vaccinated in this way. Of these citizens, almost a third (31%) said this was because they felt the vaccination was unsafe. See Flash 287 for full report.

February 11, 2010: Slow increase in awareness of EU-wide emergency number

The single European emergency number 112 was introduced to enable citizens to call the emergency services (such as police, ambulance and fire brigade) by using one and the same number from anywhere in the European Union. The latest wave of this trend survey, January 2010, showed that although only 25% of EU citizens were aware that the '112' number existed for this purpose, this was a three percentage point increase from 2008. Furthermore, a majority of respondents disagreed that people in their country were sufficiently informed about the existence of the '112' number (62%, down by 4 points from 2008). The current survey, however, showed an increase in the proportion of EU citizens who called the EU-wide emergency number 112 during the most recent emergency situation in their own country: in 2010, 45% of them called 112 and 53% called a national emergency number. See Flash 285 for full details.

January 18, 2010: Slightly less support for the euro from the EU's new member states*

A Eurobarometer survey conducted in the final quarter of 2009 showed that support for the euro among citizens of the EU's new member states not yet in the euro area has slightly decreased since May 2009. Just under 4 in 10 (39%) said they would be unhappy if the euro was introduced - up three percentage points from May 2009. The results are now similar to those of 2008, indicating that the gradual improvement in support has stopped rather than been reversed. The Czech Republic and Poland, countries that saw particularly steep increases in support at the height of the financial crisis, have now seen support drop considerably (by 13 and 7 percentage points respectively).

In addition, compared to May 2009, more respondents were hesitant about an immediate changeover; there was a decrease of three percentage points in the number of citizens wanting the change to be "as soon as possible". About 6 in 10 citizens said they did not feel well informed about the euro (up two percentage points), while national central banks and the European Institutions remained the most trustworthy sources of information. The only widespread fear among citizens of the EU's new member states (not yet in the euro area) was the potential for abuses and cheating on prices during the changeover (73%, up one percentage point).

*The EU member states included in the survey were the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.

See Flash 280 for full details.

December 2, 2009: Lisbon Treaty ratification sets the scene for the first "EU President"

Now that the EU has appointed its first permanent President of the European Council, Belgium's (now-ex) Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, it is interesting to look back at a recent Flash Eurobarometer survey that showed three-quarters of Irish respondents agreeing that a 'yes' vote - in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty - would allow EU institutions to work more efficiently. Parts of the media have been calling the position 'President of the EU', but it is certain that the role will be mainly administrative with that very aim - i.e. to make the EU institutions (and Member States) work better together. The survey was taken after the referendum, the result of which was a major step towards its ratification. That, in turn, allowed the appointment of the first President of the European Council to go ahead. The Flash Eurobarometer report also showed one seemingly dramatic change in the Irish referendum voting since the previous rejection of the treaty: in 2009, 66% of women said they voted 'yes' in the referendum compared to only 44% in 2008. See Flash 284 for full details.

November 3, 2009: EU citizens feel the effects of the economic crisis

The financial crisis has had a serious impact on EU citizens' lives. Although a recent Eurobarometer poll revealed that this has primarily been seen in some southern and eastern European countries, the crisis has also made a deep impression in previously economically sound countries such as Ireland. Overall, about one-fifth of Europeans say their household is facing financial difficulties and a similar number say that, on occasion in the last 12 months, they have had no money to pay ordinary bills or buy food. A quarter of EU citizens expect the situation to get worse in the coming year, while just over half foresee no change and about one in six think things will improve. In the Nordic countries; Danish, Finnish and Swedish citizens appear to be optimistic about both the present situation and future economic developments. As for employment, while roughly three-quarters of respondents were very or fairly confident that they would not lose their job in the 12 months following the survey, only slightly more than 4 in 10 thought it would be very or fairly likely that they would be able to find a new job within six months if they were laid off. The confident respondents tended to be under the age of 40, well-educated and living in metropolitan areas. See Flash 276 for full details.

November 3, 2009: Space activities get a green light from Europeans

The majority of EU citizens regard European space activities as important from the perspective of the EU‟s future global role: one in five citizens considered such activities to be very important (20%) and a further 43% felt that space activities were important. When asked about the value of developing various space-based applications for Europe, EU respondents were most keen on (further) developing Earth observation systems to monitor our environment including natural phenomena like forest fires or floods, effects of climate change: 58% found this to be very important. Respondents also acknowledged that there may be various benefits related to space exploration and 26% of Europeans thought that the EU should definitely do more in the field of space exploration. However - in these times of economic and financial crisis - just 20% felt that more budgetary resources should be allocated to space activities; 23% felt that the EU should reduce such spending and 43% felt the current budget should be maintained. Those who thought that spending should be increased were more likely to be male (25%) and younger than 25 (27%). See Flash 272 for full details.

October 5, 2009: One in six EU companies expect less turnover in the next 2-3 years

During a recent poll, one in six company mangers in the EU said they expected their annual turnover to decrease in the next 2-3 years. About half of them predicted growth and just less than a third thought their company's annual turnover would remain the same. Of the 27 EU member states, Poland, Austria, Romania and Sweden showed the most optimism, while Hungary, Latvia and Ireland had the highest numbers of respondents who expected turnover to fall. As for talking to banks about finance, roughly 6 in 10 companies were confident that they would be able to obtain the desired results after such a meeting, while slightly more than a quarter admitted not feeling confident about the outcome. See Flash 271 for full details.

September 9, 2009: British still divided about the benefit of the "European project"

A recent Flash survey showed that roughly similar proportions of British citizens held positive and negative views (37% and 40% respectively) about both the EU's image and the economic benefits of the UK being a member of the Union. The negative opinions were generally associated with older respondents (over 54) and those with the lowest level of education. See Flash 274 for full details.

September 9, 2009: Young people again give priority to combating violence against children

In a study that looked at young European's knowledge and opinions about the rights of under 18 year-olds, violence against children was considered to be a priority problem by 45% of young EU citizens. Roughly 4 in 10 young people also indicated that sexual exploitation of children should be addressed nationally and one-third mentioned the problem of drugs. In general, a comparison, between 2008 and 2009 results, showed very few significant changes in overall attitudes. See Flash 273 for full details.

Flash Eurobarometer 230 - Ahead of the European elections, this survey assessed French citizens' attitudes towards the EU, their views on "European identity" and issues such as future enlargement. The survey showed that 80% of French citizens feel positive about the "European project" and 60% feel both French and European. See Flash 230 for details.

May 18, 2009: Views on EU enlargement

Flash Eurobarometer 257 - This survey assessed citizens' views on the impact of the integration of 10 Central and East European countries (CEE) on the 27 member states. The most widely accepted benefit is the freedom to move and travel (90% of citizens agreed). Over half of the EU respondents, however, consider that enlargement has made the enlarged EU more difficult to manage (66%) and contributed to job losses in their country (56%). See Flash 257 for full details.

May 4, 2009: Confidence in the Information Society

Flash Eurobarometer 250 - In Flash 250, around 12,800 home-Internet users across the EU were asked about their confidence in the Information Society. One finding showed that only 12% of respondents feel that transactions over the Internet are completely safe. See Flash 250 for full details.

April 29, 2009: Students and higher education reform

Flash Eurobarometers 260 - In Flash 260, 15,000 students were interviewed in 31 countries. In the survey, two-thirds of them thought that higher education should be free of charge while 9 in 10 students gave strong support to programmes that focus on the skills needed in today's workplace. See Flash 260.

April 29, 2009: Intergenerational solidarity

Flash Eurobarometer 269 - Flash 269 looked primarily at relations between the younger and older generations. To highlight just one finding, many EU citizens were in agreement that national governments should make more money available for pensions (at least 8 in 10 in 18 Member States). See Flash 269 for full details.

April 23, 2009: The euro's introduction in Slovakia

Flash Eurobarometer 259 - This Flash survey captures the Slovak residents' immediate reactions after the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2009. See Report for details.

March 24, 2009:

Flash Eurobarometer 253 - Tobacco

Flash Eurobarometer 255 - The Euro in Slovakia

Flash Eurobarometer 258 - Attitudes of Europeans towards Tourism

Flash Eurobarometer 261 - Water

Flash Eurobarometer 266 - Women and the European elections

January 21, 2009: Parents' views on the mental health of children and young people

Flash Eurobarometer 246 - The survey examined parents' perceptions of their child's quality of life. Results showed, for example, that more girls were getting on very well at school (33% vs. 27% of boys") and that 42% of parents thought their child was "full of energy". See Report for details.

January 21, 2009: Awareness of key 'Freedom, Security & Justice' policies

Flash Eurobarometer 252 - The survey looked at the levels of citizens' concerns and support for the Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security's key policy areas: e.g. immigration, the fight against drugs abuse, the control of the EU's external borders, etc. See Report for details.