Preference for EU budget spending over time by Member State

Figure 11 presents a rather homogeneous picture of the citizens’ preference for what should be the top priority of EU spending. The category of employment, social affairs and health had been an overwhelming priority for the entire period covered by the surveys. In 2015, it was unanimously chosen as a top priority across the Member States. Even the country with the weakest support in 2015, Lithuania, scored 25 %. This is notably more than the 20 % support for this policy in 2020 given by respondents in Czechia, Hungary, Austria, Poland and Finland. This is worth noting, considering the coronavirus crisis of 2020 and all the demands it created particularly within this policy area. Respondents from Portugal showed the strongest preference for this category to be an EU spending priority – as high as 58 % in 2020.