The Flash Eurobarometer on Citizens’ Awareness and perception of EU regional policy is run every two years. The latest edition shows that the positive perception levels remain high in many EU countries.
- 09 October 2023
There is a stable level of general awareness about EU support: 39% of citizens are aware, against 40 and 41% in the last two editions.
When the EU support is visible, it is considered positive by citizens: 79% of them thinks EU support is positive.
National TV, is still the most quoted media channel as a source of information on EU funded projects, together with Internet.
Shared management funds fared pretty well in this Eurobarometer: ERDF, Cohesion Fund are the second most known funds (46% of the respondents at EU level), behind Erasmus, which stays on top with 58%. Good fourth is the European Solidarity fund, which get 42% of respondents knowledge, while the JTF is stable at 12% of knowledge.
Our effort to overcome the economic crisis brought by the pandemic has not gone unnoticed: 66% of citizens are aware that EU regional policy supported Member States both in the emergency response and in the economic recovery after COVID.
The projects we funded helped citizens to feel part of the EU: 57% of respondents confirmed that EU funded projects in their area helped to increase their feeling of belonging to the EU as a citizen. This feeling is stronger among young people, students in general and inhabitants of large town/cities.
The EU should invest in all regions: this is confirmed by 63% of the respondents, an outcome which is in line with what was expressed in previous poll. Regions with high unemployment rate are considered the ones to be prioritized by most of the citizens, together with deprived urban areas and remote rural or mountain areas. Education, health or social infrastructures are the domains that are considered more important for investments.