Special Eurobarometer 416: Attitudes of European citizens towards the environment

To help address the environmental problems facing Europe and the world, the EU's Europe 2020 strategy contains a set of environmental objectives, as well as a commitment to sustainability. To inform this process, and assist the European Commission in delivering the environmental goals of Europe 2020, this survey examines citizens' impressions of the environment and environmental problems, and asks people how they think these issues might be addressed.
Europeans favour action at EU level to protect the environment
- Six out of ten respondents believe that environmental decisions should be taken jointly between national governments and the EU.
- In 23 countries, a majority of respondents think that environmental decisions should be taken jointly.
- At least three-quarters of respondents agree that:
o European environmental legislation is necessary for protecting the environment in their country.
o The EU should be able to check that environmental laws are being applied correctly in their country.
o The EU should assist non-EU countries to improve their environmental standards.
o More EU funding should be allocated to supporting environmentally-friendly activities.

The results by volumes are distributed as follows:

• Volume A: Countries
• Volume AA: Groups of countries
• Volume A' (AP): Trends
• Volume AA' (AAP): Trends of groups of countries
• Volume B: EU/socio-demographics
• Volume B' (BP) : Trends of EU/ socio-demographics
• Volume C: Country/socio-demographics

Researchers may also contact GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer