Europeans are significantly more interested in the upcoming European Parliament elections than in the previous elections five years ago, with poverty, health, employment and defence seen as the top campaign issues, according to the results of a European Union’s (EU) Eurobarometer survey released on Wednesday, the 17th of April, reports Reuters.
The poll found that 60% of respondents said they were very or somewhat interested in elections, which will take place between the 6th and 9th of June, compared to 49% ahead of the 2019 vote.
A majority, 81%, of EU’s 27 Member State citizens polled in February and March said that the international situation,
characterised by military conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, makes voting even more important.
“Europeans are aware that the stakes are high,” Parliament President Roberta Metsola was quoted as saying in a video message.
France was the only country where interest in the European Parliament elections did not increase, with only 27% of respondents indicating a positive image, the lowest among the countries surveyed.
The EU regularly conducts Eurobarometer surveys to measure public opinion across the EU, but the surveys do not measure support for specific political parties. However, other recent polls suggest that EU sceptic and nationalist parties, mainly on the far right, could be successful in the elections.
Poverty was identified as the main problem in the Eurobarometer survey at 33%, closely followed by public health (32%). In addition, 31% of respondents also identified the economy, job creation, defence and security as important campaign issues.
Interestingly, the fight against climate change, which was ranked third in the 2023 end-of-year survey, dropped to fifth place in this survey, with 27% of respondents saying it was a priority.
Some 71% of Europeans said they were likely to vote, compared to 61% in spring 2019, although experience shows that fewer people vote than say they are saying they will. In the last European Parliament elections, turnout was 50.66% – the highest since 1994.
Also read: Survey: voters in many countries sceptical about democracy
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