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A comparative Eurobarometer survey on citizens’ ‘perceptions and expectations’, conducted for the European Parliament in 2016 and 2018, shows that the share of European citizens who would like the EU to intervene more in fighting against unemployment has dropped from 77 % in 2016 to 76 % in 2018. This marginal decrease does not change the fact that this policy area accounts for the second largest share of citizens supporting increased EU intervention.
Although there are differences across Member States, the variation in opinion is moderate. The strongest support for increased EU action is in Cyprus, Portugal (94 % in both countries) and Spain (90 %). Such levels of support demonstrate almost unanimous public support for intensified EU intervention in this policy area. The weakest level of support is registered in Denmark (55 %), the Czech Republic and Estonia (58 % in both). In all three of these countries, public support for increased action has dropped in comparison to 2016, nonetheless support for increased EU action is still shared by the majority of citizens.