The latest European Parliament Eurobarometer survey ahead of June's elections reveals the awareness among citizens and their concern about the current geopolitical context.
Current pre-election survey reveals a positive, upward trend in key election indicators just weeks before EU citizens go to the polls on June 6-9. Interest in the election, awareness of when it will be held, and the likelihood of voting have increased since the last survey in the fall of 2023, when they were last measured. The increase is even more significant compared to the spring 2019 survey (three months before the previous European elections).
60% of respondents say they are interested in voting in June (+3 percentage points compared to Fall 2023 and +11 percentage points compared to February/March 2019). Bulgaria's share of this indicator is 40%, marking an increase of 1 percentage point compared to autumn 2023 and +5 percentage points compared to February/March 2019, with the country sharing the last places with Slovakia (43 %) and the Czech Republic (38%).
71% of EU citizens say they are likely to vote (7 to 10 on a scale of 1 to 10), an increase of +3 percentage points compared to autumn 2023 and +10 percentage points compared to with the February/March 2019 survey. National results for this indicator show that 50% of Bulgarian citizens say they are likely to vote (7 to 10 on a scale of 1 to 10), a decrease of 1 percentage point from the fall in 2023 and -7 percentage points compared to February/March 2019, which, together with Estonia (52%), represents the lowest value among the Member States.
The results for the EU show that citizens are fully aware of the importance of elections in the current geopolitical context, with eight in ten (81%) respondents agreeing that this makes voting in these elections even more important. Large majorities in all member states support this statement. 62% of the respondents in Bulgaria reflect the same opinion, which puts the country in last place among the member states, followed by Romania (68%) and Estonia (72%).
European Parliament President Roberta Mezzola, commenting on the results of the survey, said: “Europeans are aware that the stakes are high at the ballot box and that voting activity is even more important in the current geopolitical context. I urge our citizens to vote in the upcoming European elections to strengthen European democracy and shape Europe's future.“
At the end of this legislative period, 81% of EU citizens have a positive or neutral view of the European Parliament, while only 18% have negative attitudes. Moreover, the majority of EU citizens (56%) would like the European Parliament to play a more important role, while only 28% would like the opposite and 10% would keep the role of the institution as it is now. Data for Bulgaria indicate that 77% of citizens have a positive or neutral view of the European Parliament, while 20% have negative attitudes, which puts the country in the EU average for this indicator. 41% of Bulgarian respondents would like the European Parliament to play a more important role, with Bulgaria in one of the last places along with Austria (43%), Estonia (41%) and Sweden (41%). 39% of Bulgarian respondents would like the European Parliament to play a less important role, along with the citizens of Romania, Poland and the Netherlands (all with 37%), and 12% would keep the role of the institution as it is now.
The President of the European Parliament Roberta Mezzola added: “The Parliament and the European Union have achieved results in an unprecedented way in recent years. We faced extraordinary and challenging circumstances, but emerged even stronger and more united as a result. The Parliament has been and will continue to be the voice and advocate of citizens in the EU.“
European citizens would like the fight against poverty and social exclusion (33%) as well as support for public health (32%) to be the main issues to be discussed during the election campaign. Support for the economy and the creation of new jobs, as well as the defense and security of the EU are in third place (with 31%). The importance citizens attach to the EU's defense and security has increased during the parliamentary term, especially in view of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. This indicator is now mentioned as the first (or joint first) priority of the election campaign in nine countries, with the highest values in Denmark (56%), Finland (55%) and Lithuania (53%). Bulgaria's data on priorities overlaps with the EU average, with the fight against poverty and social exclusion (48%) being of primary importance to citizens, followed by supporting the economy and creating new jobs (40%) and supporting public health (34%). The issues of the future of Europe (25%) and defense and security (24%) are next, while action against climate change and migration and asylum are in some of the last places with 10% and 11% respectively.
Looking to the future, EU citizens put defense and security (37%) as the first priority in strengthening the EU's position globally, followed by energy issues and food security/agriculture (both at 30%). For Bulgarian respondents, the focus on energy issues is of primary importance (35%), followed by competitiveness, economy and industry (32%) and demography, migration and aging of the population (32%), and in third position they put defense and security (31 %).
While four out of ten European citizens say that the EU's role has become more important in recent years, 35% believe that it has not changed and 22% that it has decreased. At national level, relative majorities in 15 countries believe that the EU's role in the world has become more important over the years, reaching 67% in Sweden, 63% in Portugal and 60% in Denmark. At the other end of the scale are Slovenian and Czech citizens who are most likely to say that the role of the EU has become less important (32% and 30% respectively). Figures for Bulgaria show that 32% of respondents believe that the role of the EU has become more important in recent years, along with Austria (32%), Estonia (32%) and Cyprus (33%), 39% believe that it is unchanged, and 24% - that it has decreased, which is close to the average values for the EU.
Almost three-quarters of European citizens (73%, up +3 percentage points compared to autumn 2023) say that EU actions have an impact on their daily lives, including a fifth (20%) who they prove “big“ impact. A large majority of Europeans also agree that EU membership is beneficial for their country (71%). These results are stable compared to autumn 2023 and remain at high levels across the EU. The data for Bulgaria shows that 64% of Bulgarian citizens believe that the actions of the EU have an impact on their daily life (an increase of +3 percentage points compared to autumn 2023), and 34% indicate the opposite. A little over half (52%) of the Bulgarian respondents are of the opinion that EU membership is beneficial to our country, which puts it in last place among the member states, ahead of Austria (56%) and Italy (59%). 32% of Bulgarian citizens have the opposite opinion, which is one of the highest levels together with Romania (30%), Italy (36%) and Austria (39%).