{"id":6794,"date":"2023-06-08T13:07:15","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T11:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&p=6794"},"modified":"2023-06-08T13:08:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T11:08:23","slug":"il-fehma-tal-ewropej-sena-qabel-l-elezzjonijiet","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/il-fehma-tal-ewropej-sena-qabel-l-elezzjonijiet\/","title":{"rendered":"EU citizens\u2019 views one year before the elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The European Parliament released its Spring 2023 Eurobarometer survey showing citizens\u2019 strong support for democracy and a high awareness of the upcoming European elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One year ahead of the next European elections, public interest in these elections has measurably increased. A clear majority of citizens (56%) are interested in the next European elections, 6 points higher compared to 2018, one year before the last European elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around two thirds of respondents (67%) say they would be likely to vote if the European elections were held next week. A similar question was included in the EP Eurobarometer survey in April 2018, when 58% said they were likely to do so, indicating that citizens are currently more inclined to vote in the 2024 European elections than they were at a similar point in time before the 2019 elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With elections being a cornerstone of every democracy, European citizens consider democracy the most important value for the European Parliament to defend: 37% of respondents see the defence of democracy as a priority, followed by the protection of human rights in the EU and worldwide (28%) as well as freedom of speech and thought (27%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

54% of respondents are satisfied with the way democracy works in the EU. Looking at various elements of democracy in the EU, citizens are most satisfied with free and fair elections (70%), freedom of speech (70%) and the respect for fundamental rights (66%), while being less satisfied with the fight against disinformation and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four years into the European Parliament\u2019s current legislative term, citizens acknowledge the EU\u2019s leading role on tackling the consecutive crises that have marked this period. A vast majority of EU citizens is aware of the impact the EU has on their daily lives: Around seven in ten (71%) share this opinion, including close to a fifth (18%) for whom the EU\u2019s actions \u2018very much\u2019 have an impact. The role of the European Parliament is recognised as well \u2013 62% recall having recently heard about the EP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU\u2019s support for Ukraine stands out as the accomplishment citizens are by far most satisfied with: 69% are satisfied with these actions. Satisfaction is highest in the Netherlands (90%), Sweden (87%), Finland (87%) and Ireland (87%). Respondents in Slovakia (45%) and Greece (48%) have the lowest satisfaction rates. Satisfaction with EU action is also relatively high in the areas of protecting democratic rights and the respect for the rule of law (64%) as well as foreign policy (54%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past years\u2019 multiple crises are clearly visible when looking at the state of the economy and the financial situation of citizens. Half of respondents (50%) see a decline in their standard of living and expect this to carry on over the next year. Another 29% have not yet experienced such a reduction but expect it to happen over the next year. This also increases expectations for concrete solutions: Close to two thirds (65%) are not satisfied with the measures taken by their own country to tackle the cost of living crisis, and 57% are not satisfied with what the EU has done to alleviate the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In line with this, citizens want the European Parliament to put the fight against poverty and social exclusion first (38%). This priority is followed by public health (33%), action against climate change (31%) and support to the economy and the creation of new jobs (31%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full results can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Parliament released its Spring 2023 Eurobarometer survey showing citizens\u2019 strong support for democracy and a high awareness of the upcoming European elections. One year ahead of the next […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6784,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[325],"issuem_issue_categories":[8],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/6794"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6794"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/6794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6796,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/6794\/revisions\/6796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=6794"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=6794"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=6794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}