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The European Parliament's Autumn 2021 Eurobarometer (EB) survey is the third EB survey conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic. While certain adaptations in the methodology were still necessary due to national restrictions in place, a trend analysis delivers six significant insights. First among those is that citizens’ positive attitudes towards the European Union and the European Parliament in particular, have remained at least stable during the Covid-19 pandemic. In contrast to previous severe crises over the course of the past decade, Eurobarometer data shows several indicators with a significant positive trend over the course of the pandemic. In line with this trend, citizens have reinforced their positive view of the European Parliament over the past two years, also reflected by the European Commission's Standard Eurobarometer showing that the Parliament continuously enjoys the highest levels of trust among all EU institutions. This seamlessly translates into citizens' expectations regarding the Parliament's future role within the EU: those with a positive image of the EP (36%) are simultaneously more likely to call for a more prominent role for Parliament in the future - with more than half of EU citizens overall (58%) wanting a stronger role for the EP. Third key observation: democracy is the essential value that citizens want the European Parliament to defend. Democracy has faced a multitude of challenges over the past years, not only in the EU. Be it rising extremism, the spread of manipulative information or the ongoing public discourse on the weakening of the Rule of Law. These tests have placed a strain on democracy - and citizens call upon the Parliament to defend it above all else (32%). The fourth key observation touches on which issues are paramount to citizens. While it is not surprising that public health leads the list (42%), the fight against climate change (39%) retains its position among the top priorities for European citizens in third place. Indeed, primarily younger respondents prioritise the fight against climate change, in combination with their focus on the future of Europe. Another piece of insight worth mentioning is the clear connection between the knowledge level of the European Union and the European Parliament and the support for the EU. The more citizens know about the work of the European Parliament, the more likely they are to hold a positive image, to support a stronger role for the Parliament as well as vote in the next European elections, for that matter. ‘Knowledge is power’, Francis Bacon’s Enlightenment era insight, could well apply here. The more citizens know about the workings of the EU and its institutions, the more they feel empowered to support the European Parliament as the heart of European Union democracy. Last, but not least, the present survey gives a first glimpse into European citizens’ voting predisposition regarding European elections. A majority of citizens (58%) say they would likely vote, 'if the elections were held next week', with 30% on EU average saying they are ‘very likely (10 on a scale from 1-10). With 2024 still too far away, this must not serve as an attempt to predict turnout. Yet, in comparison to similar 2017 and 2018 data, the share of citizens who say they would vote if the European elections were next week is reassuringly high, pointing towards a continued strong interest and engagement of citizens in and with the European Parliament since the last European elections in 2019.
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