This conference discussed the findings in the Eurobarometer 71 survey, published in September 2009 on the basis of field work carried out June/July 2009. Fintan Farrell, Director of EAPN took part in the panel discussion on “socio-economic climate in times of crisis”.
It was a chance to bring attention to the findings that “almost half of citizens (45%) state that our society should put more emphasis on social equality and solidarity in order to face global challenges; protecting the environment comes as second priority (36%)“. Or that, “64% of EU citizens believe that more decision making should take place at EU level in relation to protecting social rights (Over 80% in Cyprus and Hungary while only 32% in the UK)”.
The findings seem to indicate that generally people expect the EU to be more social. You can read the full Eurobarometer report here on the website of the EC.
