The European Parliament released today the “EU Post-Electoral Survey 2024” looking at voting behaviour and the main priorities of EU citizens. Rising prices and the cost of living (42%) and the economic situation (41%) were the main topics that motivated European citizens to vote in the last European elections in June this year.
A third of voters (34%) say that the international situation was a topic that encouraged them to vote, while a similar proportion mentions defending democracy and the rule of law (32%). Those who did not vote also say the cost of living (46%) and the economic situation (36%) could have motivated them to participate in the elections.
„Over the coming weeks, the European Parliament is scrutinising the new European Commission to ensure it will address the issues that are a priority for people: the cost of living, the state of our economy, democracy, rule of law, migration and security. The European Parliament will continue to work to make people’s voice count in the EU” – said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, commenting on the results of the survey.
The results of the survey indicate that citizens are optimistic about the future of the EU (65%) and that they continue to hold a positive impression of the EU (48% with only 16% stating they have a negative image). EU membership is viewed in a favourable light, too. Seven in ten (70%) Europeans think that their country has benefited from being a member of the EU, a figure that has been stable in recent years.
Trust in European parliamentary democracy is particularly high at the onset of the tenth EP parliamentary term: 42% of citizens have a positive image of the European Parliament - the highest ever recorded result for this indicator.
The European Parliament’s post-electoral Eurobarometer survey was carried out by Verian (previously Kantar Public) research agency between 13 June and 8 July 2024 in all 27 EU Member States. The survey was conducted face-to-face, with video interviews (CAVI) used additionally in Czechia, Denmark, Finland and Malta. 26.349 interviews were conducted in total. EU results were weighted according to the size of the population in each country. In addition to the weighting procedure based on socio-demographic variables (post-stratification weights on gender and age, region and urbanisation), the results for all questions related to the European elections in this post-election survey were weighted according to the actual national turnout.
Source of information: European Parliament