68% of Bulgarians Believe EU Recovery Plan Will Help Country Tackle Pandemic's Impact More Rapidly

Fifty per cent of EU citizens expressed a positive view of the EU at the end of 2020 in a survey commissioned by the European Parliament and conducted between November and December 2020 by Kantar. Its findings were presented by the EP on Friday, inform BTA from Brussels.

Nearly three out of four respondents (72 per cent on average in the EU and 68 per cent in Bulgaria) believe the EU Recovery Plan  would allow their country's economy to recover more rapidly from the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of citizens who expressed a positive view of the EU (50 per cent) increased by 10 percentage points compared to autumn 2019, while their share in Bulgaria reached 59 per cent. In this survey, 66 per cent of respondents in the EU and 61 per cent in  Bulgaria are optimistic about the future of the European Union.

Yet the individual outlook remains pessimistic in the face of the continuing pandemic: 53 per cent of respondents in the EU and 55 per cent in Bulgaria believe that the economic situation in their country will be worse in one year's time than it is now.

Only 21 per cent of EU citizens, and 13 per cent of Bulgarian respondents, believe that the national economic situation would improve over the coming year. More than half of EU respondents (52 per cent) and 40 per cent of Bulgarians expect their individual living conditions in one year's time to be the same as today. One quarter of EU respondents (24 per cent) believe they will be even worse off in one year's time - a view shared by more than one in three (35 per cent) respondents in Bulgaria. A total of 21 per cent of EU respondents and a mere 15 per cent  of Bulgarians think they would be better off.

Citizens formulate a new top political priority for the European  Parliament: 48 per cent of EU respondents and 61 per cent of respondents in Bulgaria want the fight against poverty and social inequalities at the top of the agenda. This is the first priority in all EU Member States apart from Finland, Czechia, Denmark and Sweden, where the fight against terrorism and crime comes first. Bulgarian respondents (36 per cent) rank this goal in third place (likewise EU respondents, 35 per cent), after the  need to provide affordable food to citizens and fair living standards to agricultural producers (37 per cent).

Measures to combat terrorism and crime (35 per cent), to ensure a quality education for all (33 per cent) as well as to protect the environment (32 per cent) come next for EU citizens. In Bulgaria, 35 per cent of respondents set a priority on full employment in the EU Member States, followed by quality education (31 per cent) and protection of the environment (24 per cent).

 The citizens' ranking of the core values the European Parliament  should defend shows that defence of human rights worldwide (51 per cent in the EU and 48 per cent in Bulgaria) and equality between men and women (42 per cent in the EU and 24 per cent in Bulgaria) remain on top. Solidarity between Member States ends in third place with 41 per cent of respondents in the EU (54 per  cent in Bulgaria). Freedom of speech comes third in importance for the Bulgarian respondents (36 per cent), compared to 38 per cent in the EU.

The pandemic and other global challenges such as the climate emergency sustain citizens' call for fundamental EU reform. Sixty-three per cent of respondents in the EU (55 per cent in Bulgaria) want the EP to play a more important role in the future. And while the positive image of the EU was increasing at  the end of last year, so did the call for change: Only 27 per cent of respondents in the EU (35 per cent in Bulgaria) support the EU just the way it has been accomplished so far, while 44 per cent in the EU (34 per cent in Bulgaria) "rather support the  EU" but want to see reform. Another 22 per cent of EU respondents (20 per cent in Bulgaria) are "rather skeptical about the EU but could change their mind again in light of radical reform."