Euro-Barometer 41.1: Post-European Election, June-July, 1994

The Eurobarometer (EB) survey series is a unique programme of cross-national and cross-temporal comparative social science research. Since the early seventies representative national samples in all European Union (EU) (formerly the European Community (EC)) member states have been simultaneously interviewed in the spring and autumn of each year. Starting with EB 34.1 (autumn 1990), separate supplementary surveys on special issues have been conducted under almost every EB number. The EB is designed to provide regular monitoring of public social and political attitudes in the EU through specific trend questions. More information about the series may be found on the Zentralarchiv fuer Empirische Sozialforschung (ZA - Central Archive for Empirical Social Research, University of Cologne) Eurobarometer Survey Series web pages. Background Work on European survey series began in early 1970, when the Commission of the European Community sponsored simultaneous surveys of the EC. These surveys were designed to measure public awareness of, and attitudes toward, the Common Market and other EC institutions, in complementary fashion. They also probed the goals given top priority for each respondent's nation. These concerns have remained a central part of the EC's research efforts - which were carried forward in the summer of 1971 with another six-nation survey that gave special attention to agricultural problems. The nine EC member countries were then surveyed again on the same topic areas in September 1973. After 1973, the surveys took on a somewhat broader scope in content as well as in geographical coverage, with measures of subjective satisfaction and the perceived quality of life becoming standard features of the EC public opinion surveys. Over time, the member states of the EC/EU have increased in number, and the coverage of the EB surveys has widened accordingly. In 1974, nine countries were surveyed: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg. Greece has been included since the autumn 1980 survey (EB 14) onwards, Portugal and Spain since autumn 1985 (EB 24), the former German Democratic Republic since autumn 1990 (EB 34), Finland since the spring of 1993 (EB 39), and Sweden and Austria since the autumn of 1994 (EB 42). Norway has been included in some surveys since 1991, from EB 36 onwards. In 2004, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU, and in 2007, Bulgaria and Romania (some of these countries participated in the Candidate Countries Eurobarometer survey series (see under GN 33343) before full accession). Some surveys are also conducted in Turkey, and in the Turkish Cypriot Community (Northern Cyprus). The Eurobarometer public opinion surveys are conducted on behalf of and co-ordinated by the European Commission, DG Press and Communication - Opinion Polls Sector (European Commission Public Opinion Analysis). Special topic modules are carried out at the request of the responsible EU Directorate General. Main Topics:This round of Euro-Barometer surveys queried respondents on standard Euro-Barometer measures such as public awareness of and attitudes toward the European Union (EU), and also focused on the election of the Parliament for the European Union, which occurred in June 1994. EU matters covered included the respondents' general attitudes toward the European Union, in particular, their interest in European politics, general efforts to unify Western Europe, their own country's membership, their level of satisfaction about how democracy was working in the Union and in their own country, and the level of involvement of the Union in important issues of the day. Questions on the EU Parliament election asked participants if they had voted in the election, and if so, for which party they had voted. Respondents were also queried about their attitudes toward female candidates in the election, their feelings about important public figures in general, the role of women in decision-making roles within the institutions and organizations of the Union, the role of political campaigns in the election, and their interpretations of the importance of the results. Respondents commented on how strongly they thought of themselves as Europeans, their attitudes toward a single European currency, feelings about the unemployment problem and the possible need for a massive government program to tackle the problem, opinions on border controls and other political issues and problems, feelings about immigrants, the future role of Germany in the Union, and their level of confidence in the decisions of the Union. They also described the good and bad points of the European Parliament, its power, its effects on the lives of individuals, and whether the Union should develop into a United States of Europe. Demographic and other background information was gathered on the number of people residing in the home, size of locality, household income, trade union membership, region of residence, and occupation of the head of household, as well as the respondent's age, sex, marital status, education, occupation, work sector, religion, religiosity, subjective social class, and left-right political self-placement.