Environmental concerns have been debated intensively at EU level for many years now. As a result, the EU has a broad policy in the area. According to a new Eurobarometer survey of the European Parliament on ‘perceptions and expectations’, two thirds of EU citizens would like to see even stronger EU involvement in environmental protection and more than half (52%) consider current EU action insufficient. In past years, when EU citizens were asked about the policy areas they prefer the EU budget to be spent on, environmental protection was the fifth or sixth most preferred area. However, support for spending in this area is on a slight decline – 23% perceived it as a top priority spending category in 2008, 22% in 2011 and 20% in 2015 (Eurobarometer data). Either because EU environmental policy has already been further developed, or because citizens have other concerns which have perhaps taken priority, the gap between citizens’ expectations and EU environmental action is slowly shrinking, but a gap nevertheless remains.
Public expectations and EU commitment on environmental protection
Categories:
European Parliamentary Research Service
Related Articles
In focus
We write about
Blogroll
Disclaimer and Copyright statement
The content of all documents (and articles) contained in this blog is the sole responsibility of the author and any opinions expressed therein do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. It is addressed to the Members and staff of the EP for their parliamentary work. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy.
For a comprehensive description of our cookie and data protection policies, please visit Terms and Conditions page.
Copyright © European Union, 2014-2022. All rights reserved.
Be the first to write a comment.