Eurobarometer: Romanian citizens, uninterested in climate action at the European level

Citizens with the right to vote in our country are not interested in the Green Deal, climate actions and reducing emissions at the European level, according to the latest Eurobarometer published yesterday by the community public opinion polling institution. Although the main topic referred to participation in the European Parliament elections on June 9, 2024, voters in our country also answered several questions related to the topics of national, European and global importance that they consider to be the main ones.

On the option regarding climate actions and reducing emissions, the percentage of Romanian citizens interested in the green transition was half of the European average.

Thus, to the question regarding the citizens' priorities before the European elections, the question with the possibility of ticking several answers, only 14% of the respondents in our country said that climate actions and the reduction of noxious emissions are among the priorities, while the European average is 27% .

The same is the case with the question regarding the aspects on which the EU should focus in order to strengthen its position in the world, where only 12% of Romanian respondents listed climate actions and reducing emissions, in contrast to the European average of 24%.

Regarding the priorities of citizens with the right to vote in our country before the European Parliament elections, in first place, with 42%, is the support of the economy and the creation of new jobs, followed by public health (37%), the fight against poverty and social exclusion (33%) and EU defense and security (28%). The digitalization of the European economy and society (11%), migration and asylum (10%) and gender equality, inclusion and diversity (8%) are on the last places in the list of priorities of Romanian voters.

Regarding the aspects on which the EU should focus in order to strengthen its position in the world, the Romanian respondents put defense and security (33%), food security and agriculture (31%), competitiveness, economy and industry in the first three places (29%), closely followed with 28% by energy independence, resources and infrastructures. EU enlargement (11%), technology and innovation - including AI (11%), culture (8%) come last.

Regarding the question regarding the values that the European Parliament should defend in the coming years (open question for more answers), citizens with the right to vote in our country put peace (39%), respect for national identities, of cultures and traditions in EU Member States (26%) and solidarity between EU Member States and between its regions (24%). They are closely followed by the protection of human rights in the EU and worldwide (23%), the rule of law (22%) and freedom of movement (21%). Democracy and freedom of expression and thought are only on the 7th-8th place, with 20% each. Probably, because of the type of question, respondents who might have given more percentages to democracy believed that if they answer that they want the protection of human rights, the rule of law and freedom of movement, they actually want democracy. In the last place in the list of values is the equality between women and men which was mentioned by only 8% of the respondents.

According to the Eurobarometer, 74% of the respondents in our country will go to the polls on June 9 to vote for the candidates for the European Parliament, and 68% of the respondents believe that this vote is very important in light of the current international context. 53% of respondents believe that the European Parliament should play a more important role and only half (50%) of survey participants say they have an overall positive image of the European Union. 65% of the Romanian citizens surveyed claim that EU actions have an impact on daily life, an equal percentage being granted by the citizens who say that our country has benefited from the fact that it is a member of the EU bloc.

Regarding the evolution of the standard of living in the next five years, only 17% of the respondents believe that it will increase, while 48% claim that it will not change, and 30% believe that the standard of living will decrease.

The Eurobarometer was conducted at the European level between February 7 and March 3, 2024, on 26,411 people with the right to vote, through the face-to-face interview method. From the total number of people surveyed at European level, 1046 were interviewed in Romania, between February 7-25, 2024.