A majority of EU citizens support a larger EU budget to overcome the pandemic with public health being the priority, followed by economic recovery and climate change.
In a new survey commissioned by the European Parliament and conducted at the beginning of October, nearly eight out of 10 participants (77%) across the EU support the concept that the EU should only provide funds to member states if the national government implements the rule of law and democratic principles.
At least seven in 10 participants agree with this statement in 26 EU states.
Absolute majority want larger EU budget to fight COVID-19
A total 54% of Europeans believe the EU should have greater financial means to be able to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 20 EU states, a majority of the participants agree with this claim; in 14 EU states, an absolute majority of participants supports a larger EU budget.
Asked about which policy fields this enlarged EU budget should be spent on, more than half of participants (54%) say public health should be a priority, followed by economic recovery and new opportunities for businesses (42%), climate change and environmental protection (37%) and employment and social affairs (35%).
At EU level, climate change and the environment replaced employment in the top three spending priorities compared to the last survey conducted in June.
Public health is the top spending priority for respondents in 18 countries. Estonia, Latvia and Czechia put economic recovery on top, while in Austria, Denmark and Germany citizens favoured most the fight against climate change.
In Croatia, Slovakia and Finland, participants chose employment and social affairs as their top spending priority.
Broad majority fear direct impact on personal financial situation
Taking the necessary decisions on the recovery package and the MFF as soon as possible is clearly vital, as demonstrated by the worrying personal financial situation of European citizens since the beginning of the pandemic.
A broad majority of citizens fear the pandemic will a direct impact on their personal financial situation – or have already suffered it: 39% of participants say that the COVID-19 crisis has already impacted their personal income, while a further 27% expect such an impact in the future.
Only 27% expect the COVID-19 situation not to have an impact on their personal income. In 20 countries, most participants say that the current crisis has already impacted their personal income.
Two-thirds of participants (66%) agree that the EU should have more competences to deal with crises such as the pandemic. Only a quarter (25%) disagree with this statement. These findings are consistent with the results from both previous surveys conducted by the European Parliament in April and June.
The full survey will be released in November.