Public expectations and EU policies – Identifying the gaps

A series of Briefings from the European Parliamentary Research Service which looks at EU actions in a series of policy areas. This follows up a public opinion survey organised by Eurobarometer for the European Parliament in April 2016 which asked the question: Would you like the EU to intervene less than at present or more than at present for the following policy areas?

Terrorism / Unemployment / Tax fraud / Migration / Borders / Democracy / Environment / Security and defence / Health / Gender equality / Energy / Economy / Foreign policy / Agriculture / Industrial policyCitizens’ expectations of the European Union vary widely across policy areas. A Eurobarometer survey – Europeans in 2016: Perceptions and expectations, fight against terrorism and radicalisation – seeks to identify those areas in which EU citizens want to see the Union doing more.

Having identified areas in which there is a gap between the EU’s current action and citizens’ expectations of the Union, the next step is to look at the potential – within the constraints of the EU legal foundations – for the EU to do more to meet citizens’ expectations.

Authors: Alina Dobreva and Eva-Maria Poptcheva