Over 7 out of 10 citizens (72%) believe membership of the EU is positive, according to the first survey to be published on the state of public opinion in Catalonia regarding the European Union, as the countdown begins to the European elections on 9 June. Compared to the Autumn 2023 Eurobarometer published by the European Parliament in December, six months before the European elections, 70% of respondents in Spain and 61% across the EU consider EU membership positively.

According to the CEO study, 59% of those surveyed do not know when the European elections will be held, but three out of four Catalans (75%) say they intend to vote. When compared again to the last Eurobarometer, 62% of those surveyed in Spain did not know when the European elections were to be held, a figure that dropped to 30% at the European level. However, 68% of Europeans expressed their intention to vote, the figure being 64% in Spain.

Most respondents (54%) consider that the EU’s actions have a large or fairly large impact on their daily lives and a very similar percentage (55%) consider themselves to be very or quite pro-European. There is a significant lack of knowledge about EU institutions (57%), while the European Parliament is the European institution most widely recognised by Catalans (29%), almost four times more than the others. For 67% of respondents, the European Parliament plays a very or fairly important role in the EU and 59% would like to see it become more important in the future.

Asked which level of public administration, EU, the Spanish Government or the Catalan Government, should take the lead on a range of issues, respondents prioritised the following at the European level: protection against threats from third countries (79%, a difference of 68 points); the fight against climate change (72%, a difference of 61 points); regulation of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (67%, with a difference of 55 points); protection of rights and freedoms (52%, with a 30 point difference); migration policy (48%, with a 23 point difference); a new pandemic (44%, with a 17 point difference); regulation of energy prices (39%, 4 point difference).

“The results of the survey provide a very good reflection of the nature of this 9th European term of office: greater EU exposure to public opinion due to Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the energy crisis, inflation and the war in the Middle East has made the public more aware that decisions taken in Brussels and Strasbourg matter, whether or not they agree with them,” explained the head of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Barcelona, Sergi Barrera, during the presentation of the survey results. “The survey also shows there is a long way to go in educating people about the EU, but now we need to focus all communication efforts on making people aware that on 9 June there will be European Elections and that the resulting new European Parliament will decide the political direction of the EU for the next five years,” he added. He also paraphrased the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who stressed this week that “the more people that vote, the stronger European democracy will be”.

For his part, the director of the CEO, Jordi Muñoz, pointed out that “as far as the next elections to the European Parliament are concerned, more than half the people surveyed could not say when they would be held. At the same time, most respondents said they would take into account EU-related issues, but also the political situation between Catalonia and Spain when deciding how to vote”.

Regarding the next term of office, when asked which issues the EU should prioritise, respondents identified, in order of priority: climate change (36%); migration policy (31%); human rights and social welfare (13%); conflict, security and defence (12%); and the economy (11%).

Regarding Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, 9 out of 10 respondents agree or strongly agree that the EU should provide humanitarian support for Kiev (92%) and that refugees should be taken in (90%). There is also broad support for sanctions against Russia (75%) and a majority of respondents favour military support in Ukraine (57%).

Regarding the possible enlargement of the EU from the current 27 Member States to 36, a majority of respondents (68%) agree or strongly agree with adding new states. Asked about five candidate countries, Ukraine received the most support (67%) for accession.

The full results of the survey are available on the CEO’s website.