09_Health and social security_perceptions difference_GW

Just as in 2016, in 2018, 38 % of citizens evaluate the EU’s involvement in health and social security policies as adequate. Although there is no change in the proportion of people evaluating EU involvement positively, there is a small decrease in the share of EU citizens who evaluate the current EU action in health and social security as insufficient – from 50 % in 2016 to 48 % in 2018. Behind the stability in opinion over time at EU level, there are significant changes in certain Member States. The most prominent is the decrease in the share of citizens in Luxembourg perceiving EU action as adequate (a drop of 16 percentage points) and the increase in the evaluation of EU action as adequate in Romania and Hungary (a 17 percentage point increase in each of the two Member States).
Overall at EU level, the gap between citizens’ expectations of EU involvement and their evaluation of current EU action on health and social security is growing, due to the increased pressure of citizens’ expectations.