In both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the number of people who consider EU membership a positive has fallen compared to last autumn. Photo credit: Freepik.
Brussels, June 7 (CTK correspondent) – The interest of Czechs and Slovaks in next year’s European Parliament (EP) elections is the lowest out of all EU member states, according to a regular Eurobarometer poll released yesterday by the EP.
According to the survey, an average of 56% of voters across EU countries are interested in the EP elections, which is 6 percentage points more than a year before the previous elections. However, this falls to just 27% in the Czech Republic, and 26% in Slovakia.
However, the same poll found that almost three-quarters of people believe that EU activities have an impact on their daily lives.
In both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the number of people who consider EU membership a positive has fallen compared to last autumn.
The EP elections will be held in early June 2024, when voters will choose members of the 705-seat body, in which the Czech Republic has 21 representatives. The elections will also have an impact on the choice of the new head of the European Commission, in which the member states’ leaders have the final say.
Turnout in the previous EP elections in 2019 was slightly over 50% on average. Then also, the lowest turnout was in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
By contrast, 75% of people in the Netherlands expressed an interest in the next EP elections.
The EP elections are a chance to stand up for the issues that are important to EU citizens, said EP President Roberta Metsola in response to the survey results, urging voters, especially young people, to vote and shape the European Union they want to live in.
A total of 71% of people in EU countries believe that the EU’s work has an impact on their daily lives; 74% of Czechs share this view.
Compared to last autumn’s survey, the proportion of people who consider their country’s EU membership a positive thing has fallen. In the Czech Republic, 44% of people now think positively about the EU, 7 percentage points lower than in the autumn, while in Slovakia, the figure is five percentage points lower at 39%. The EU average of satisfaction with EU membership is 61%, one point lower than in the autumn.
EU citizens consider support for Ukraine to be the bloc’s main current success, appreciated by 69% of respondents. In the Czech Republic, support for Ukraine is the second most appreciated EU function (53%), behind the protection of democracy (59%).
54% are satisfied with the functioning of democracy in the EU on average, while in the Czech Republic, 51% are satisfied, seven percentage points less than last autumn.
The Eurobarometer survey was conducted for the EP on a sample of 26,376 respondents, mostly in person, sometimes via video interviews. The results for the entire EU were assessed according to the population of each country.
