Euro-Barometer 31.A: European Elections, 1989 : Post-election Survey, June-July, 1989

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 focused on the European Community and on the European Parliamentary elections, energy resources, environmental pollution, and the financial well-being of the respondents' households. Respondents' attitudes towards the European Community were elicited through a series of questions that asked about respondents' interest in politics and in European Community politics, views on the importance of European Community matters for the future and, more specifically, for people of the respondent's country, support of efforts to unify Western Europe, and opinions on whether the respondent's country had benefited from being a member of the European Community. Questions about the European Parliamentary elections included queries on the role of the media, whether the respondent had voted in the recent European elections and which party the respondent voted for, and reasons for not voting. Respondents were asked if candidates' stands on domestic matters or on European matters were important in their voting decision, and which reason best explained the way they voted. Other questions examined the respondent's views on whether cooperation among national members of the European Parliament should be based on nationality or on party affiliations. Political queries included questions about the idea of democracy, how well democracy worked in the respondent's country, and to what extent the respondent believed the European Community was democratic. In a series of questions on environmental issues, respondents were asked to evaluate major energy resources in terms of price stability, supply, and pollution, and to weigh the risks, costs, and benefits of nuclear energy. They were also asked about the causes, effects, and possible solutions for the problems of acid rain, the greenhouse effect, and the deteriorating ozone layer. Additional information gathered by the survey includes life satisfaction,family income, home ownership, number of persons and children under 15 residing in the home, size of locality, region of residence, occupation of the head of household, and the respondent's age, sex, occupation, education, religion, religiosity, and subjective social class standing.