Brussels, February 12 (BTA) - 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.

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 sceptical
about the EU but could change their mind again in light of
radical reform." NV/DD