Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The latest Eurobarometer poll showed support for European Commission’s proposed common security policy and plans to phase out Russian energy imports.
The poll also shows high support for the bloc’s response to the war in Ukraine, the EC pointed out in a statement on Wednesday.
Roughly 59% of EU citizens are happy with bloc-level responses to the war and about 57% support responses on national level, the poll shows.
Support for humanitarian moves is the highest (93%) followed by economic sanctions (80%) and military aid (70%).
The body pointed out that 81% of respondents support “a common defence and security policy among EU member states, with at least two thirds of respondents supporting this view in each country.”
In addition, roughly 85% of respondents want to see increased cooperation on defence in the bloc.
The poll shows support for EC’s energy plans, with 87% of respondents in favour of lowering the EU’s dependency on Russian energy as soon as possible.
Support for environmental policy
Some 86% expressed belief that investing more in renewables and reducing energy imports is important for security, with 85% of respondents in favour of massive EU investments in renewables.
Approximately 49% of respondents expressed concerns that the green push is harming the economy, while 81% see the push as a long-term positive for the economy.
The poll shows that 34% of respondents want the EU to prioritise security and defence, 26% want the bloc and its members to be more autonomous when it comes to energy supply, 24% want the focus on economic problems, 22% on environmental issues and 21% on unemployment.
According to the EC poll, the majority of EU citizens (58%) are happy with the EC’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and 59% are happy with how their governments handled it.
The Commission pointed out that the poll was conducted in the period between 19 April and 16 May in 27 member states on a sample of 26,578 respondents, noting that interviews were conducted online and in person.
The EC concluded that results of the poll are in line with those released on 5 May and confirm support for its policies.
