One of the aims of JEF-Europe’s campaign #DemocracyUnderPressure is to raise awareness about the fact that the health of democracy and rule of law in Europe, although better than elsewhere, has been shrinking in the latest years and that there is still space for improvement.
Eurobarometer’s 96.2 survey - “EP Autumn 2021 Survey: Defending Democracy | Empowering Citizens”, conducted in the Autumn of 2021, asked Europeans some questions about democracy. Here follows a quick review of the answers to some of the questions, divided by age group: [1]
QA4a. Which of the following topics would you like to see addressed in priority by the European Parliament? Firstly?
Unsurprisingly, the main priority for the 15-24 age group is “Action against climate change” (20,54%); while for the 75+ it’s “Public health”. “Democracy and rule of law” gets an intermediate attention, being the main priority for a 6-8% of the respondents across the age groups.
QA4b. And then? (MAX. 3 ANSWERS)
Even with a second thought, the status of democracy and rule of law doesn’t top Europeans’ priorities - with the youngest age group being the less supportive. Climate change, public health and fight against poverty are still considered as the biggest tasks for the EP.
QA5. In your opinion, which of the following values should the European Parliament defend as a matter of priority? (MAX. 3 ANSWERS)
Talking about values, instead, “Democracy” should be defended by the EP “as a matter of priority” for all the age groups except, again, the 15-24 one that considers “Freedom of speech and thought” as the most urgent value to defend.
QA9. Regardless of whether you think (OUR COUNTRY) has benefited or not from being a member of the EU, which of the following are the main reasons why people think (OUR COUNTRY) has benefited from being a member of the EU? (MAX. 3 ANSWERS)
Inquired about the biggest benefits that the EU membership have brought to their country, the respondents think that the EU contribution to democracy should be on the bottom of the list, with security, international cooperation and economic growth on top.
QA10. Still regardless of whether you think (OUR COUNTRY) has benefited or not from being a member of the EU, which of the following are the main reasons why people think (OUR COUNTRY) has not benefited from being a member of the EU? (MAX. 3 ANSWERS)
On an opposite view, the least beneficial aspects of the EU membership is the little influence on the EU-level decision and the fact that the most important issues for the people should be competence of the national level. Democracy, according to the participants, did not worsen because of the EU membership - therefore, the EU membership does not have either a positive nor a negative influence on the status of democracy in the Member States.
QA12. Thinking about the EU, on which topics would you like more information about? (MULTIPLE ANSWERS POSSIBLE)
About communcations, people feel that they should know more about how EU funds are spent in their countries - not a surprise. 8-9% of respondents, across all age groups, would like to know more about EU’s efforts to protect democracy and rule of law.
D80a. On the whole, are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with the way democracy works in (OUR COUNTRY)?
Finally, the direct questions on participants’ opinions on their satisfaction with the status of democracy in their country: the most common answer for all age groups, by far, is “Fairly satisfied”, while the overall satisfied are the majority. The percentage of not satisfied is not neglectable, from the 37% of the youngest and oldest age groups to the 45% of the 55-64 one.
D80b. And how about the way democracy works in the EU?
Same question, about the EU this time. Here, the oldest age groups’ opinion is almost equally balanced among satisfied and not satisfied, even if the most drastic opinions find less support than in the domestic question. The youngest generations, instead, are generally more optimistic about the status of democracy and rule of law in the EU rather than in their country.
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