CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE EU

Transcription

1 Special Eurobarometer European Commission CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE EU Special Eurobarometer / Wave European Opinion Research Group EEIG Fieldwork: May-June 2003 Publication: November 2003 This survey was requested by Directorate General Health and Consumer Protection and coordinated by Directorate General Press and Communication This document does not represent the point of view of the European Commission. The interpretations and opinions contained in it are Standard solely those of the Euroba authors. rometer EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP 59.2 SUMMER

2 This survey, together with other Eurobarometer surveys, can be found on the website of the Public Opinion sector of the Directorate-General Press and Communication of the European Commission at The website of the Directorate-General Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission can be reached at: The Consumer affairs website of the European Commission can be found on the Internet at: A great deal of additional information on the European Union is also available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server ( EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

3 Table of Contents Table of Contents... 3 Summary... 5 Introduction... 9 Consumer Protection and Confidence HIGH LEVEL OF CONSUMER PROTECTION SAFETY OF NON-FOOD PRODUCTS SAFETY OF SERVICES ENFORCEMENT OF LEGISLATION ON CONSUMER PROTECTION INTERNET PROTECTION SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES Introduction High Level of Consumer Protection Safety of Non-Food Products Consumer Confidence: Overall Socio-Demographic Trends CONCLUSION Consumer Knowledge ACCESS TO MEANS OF DISPUTE SETTLEMENT KNOWLEDGE OF RIGHTS AS CONSUMERS INVOLVEMENT OF CONSUMER ASSOCIATIONS SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES Consumers and the Single European Market OPINIONS ON THE IMPACT OF SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET ON PRODUCTS AND SERVICES Choice of Food Products Choice of Non-Food Products Choice of Services Price of Food Products Price of Non-food Products Quality of Non-food Products Price of Services Quality of Services Conclusion EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

4 Socio-demographic profiles PURCHASES MADE: COMPARISON WITH Socio-demographic profiles SHOPPING: BY WHAT MEANS? AMOUNT OF SPENDING SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES Means of Shopping Profile of Shoppers Abroad: Total Amount Spent Comparison to ADVERTISING OF GOODS AND SERVICES AND PURCHASES MADE ADVERTISING OF GOODS AND SERVICES AND PURCHASES MADE Prevalence of Advertising from other EU Countries and Purchases Made in other EU Countries Types of Advertising Seen: 2002 and Advertising: Largely Unsolicited SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES The Reach of Advertising Requested Advertising IMPACT OF INTRODUCTION OF EURO IN NOTES AND COINS Socio-Demographic Profiles FINANCIAL SERVICES ANNEXES QUESTIONNAIRE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

5 Summary Consumer protection and confidence Nearly half (48.5%) of all Europeans are satisfied that they have a high level of consumer protection in their own countries, but just on-fifth (20.3%) believe the same applies for them in other European (EU 15) countries. Northern Europeans have the consistently highest percentage of satisfaction in consumer protection in their own countries, although they do not with respect to the other EU countries. Indeed, Sweden has one of the lowest percentages in Europe of respondents agreeing with these statements. Education, age, income and place of residence (rural, mid-size town, large town) are strong predictors for different aspects of consumer confidence and satisfaction: more education, higher income, lower age and living in a large town all serve to increase confidence. Just 12.4% of Europeans have bought goods or services from shops or sellers located in other European countries in the past year, with Luxembourgers having done so at the highest rate, at 48.5%, and Spain the lowest, at 2.6 per cent. In 2002, 13.3% of Europeans bought goods or services from other EU 15 countries. Denmark, at 38.9%, did so at the highest rate, while Greece, at 4.4 %, did so at the lowest. Over half (54.2%) of the purchases made in other EU 15 countries in 2003 were made while the purchasers were on a holiday or business trip, while over a third (37.5%) were made on a trip made primarily for shopping purposes. Just under a quarter (23.0%) were made via Internet. There are some considerable national variations, but no identifiable regional distinctions. In 2002, 56.9% of purchases made in other EU 15 countries were made while on a holiday or business trip, while purchases made on a shopping trip accounted for 33.8 per cent. Sales via the Internet were at 17.9 per cent. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

6 In terms of socio-demographic categories and shopping, there are also considerable variations, with education playing a role in Internet shopping (more education more shopping via Internet) and income playing a role for shopping on holiday or business trips and for shopping via Internet (higher income more shopping). In nearly all cases of consumer confidence, there is at least a two-fold difference between confidence in the relevant national market vis-à-vis other countries in the EU. Confidence in consumer protection and safety in one s own country ranges from 55 per cent of Europeans believing that the safety of non-food products is guaranteed to 22 per cent saying that they believe there is a high level protection when they buy something on the Internet. Consumer confidence in other EU 15 countries ranges from 28.4% of Europeans who say that the safety of non-food products is guaranteed in other EU 15 countries to 9.6% who believe they have a high level of protection when they purchase something on the Internet. National differences in consumer confidence are present, with north-south distinctions often playing a role in addition to socio-demographic factors. The Southern European countries are more often less confident. Nearly half (46.8%) of all Europeans believe that legislation on consumer protection is applied in their own countries, with Northern Europeans being more confident than Southern Europeans. Just about one-fifth (19.9%) believes the same with respect to legislation in other EU countries, with Southern Europeans more confident than Northern Europeans. Consumer knowledge Europeans do not overwhelmingly believe that they know enough about their rights as consumers. 1 Somewhat under one-third (29.1%) of Europeans believe that they know enough about their rights as consumers under their own country s laws. Northern Europeans feel they have the strongest knowledge of their own rights, with Finland 1 Q39a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

7 (46.8%), Sweden (43.7%) and Denmark (39.3%) topping the list. Southern Europeans countries are the lowest. In terms of knowing about their rights as consumers under European laws, Europeans are far less confident, with just 7.1% saying they know enough about their rights. The Northern Europeans and the Germans are the least confident. Northern Europeans (Finland 43.3%, Denmark 34.8%) are much more confident than the EU 15 average (22.4%) about having a high level of protection for purchases made on the Internet in one s own country, but are considerably less so for purchases made on the Internet in other EU countries (Finland 9.6%, Denmark 12.3%). The EU average is 9.7 per cent. Southern European countries are less confident for purchases in their own countries, but more confident for Internet purchases made in other EU countries. Just under fifteen per cent (14.6%) of Europeans believe that their consumer rights are taken into account with respect to EU policies other than consumer protection. The Dutch believe so the most strongly, at 29.4%, while the Swedes believe so the least, at 9.0 per cent. Education and age both play a role in believing that one s rights are taken into account in other EU 15 policies (more education and lower age predict higher confidence). The highest overall is the group of those still studying, at 21.7 per cent. Just under one-quarter of Europeans (22.1%) feel that consumer associations are involved enough in formulating consumer protection policy in their own countries while 56.8% feel they should be more involved. 10.1% of Europeans feel that consumer associations are involved enough in formulating consumer protection policy in other EU countries. Consumers and the Single European Market Europeans, overall, feel that the Single European Market has positively affected the choice of both food and non-food products. Considerably more Europeans feel that the impact has been positive than has been negative. The most positive opinions concern choice; the least positive the price of food products and of services. Depending on EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

8 questions, a proportion of 25.6% to 38.7% of EU consumers has no opinions or believes the Single European Market had no effect. The Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg believe that the Single European Market has had the most positive impact while Italy, France and the United Kingdom least believe it has had a positive impact. Education and income play an important role in terms of evaluating the impact of the Single European Market: higher education and higher income lead to increased belief in the positive impact of the Single European Market. As to whether the introduction of Euro notes and coins have made consumers more interested in purchasing goods or services, overall, nearly 15 per cent (14.8%) of Europeans are more interested, with the three most interested being Austria, Netherlands and Luxembourg and the least interested France, Spain and the UK. In 2002, 12.3% of Europeans said the introduction of the Euro in notes and coins made them more interested in purchasing goods or services from other EU 15 countries, with the Netherlands, Austria and Luxembourg the most interested. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

9 Introduction This report, based upon the Eurobarometer 59.2 survey, with comparisons to the Eurobarometer 57.2 survey 2, was carried out in the EU This report will address three broad questions: first, European 4 consumers opinions on consumer protection and consumer confidence issues, second, consumer knowledge and, third, EU consumers and the Single European Market. In its first part, this report looks at different aspects of consumer protection and confidence, excluding food safety, across the EU 15, on the national, European and socio-demographic levels. Overall, a significant gap remains between confidence in European consumers own countries and the rest of the European Union (15). While slightly under half (48.5%) of Europeans (EU 15) say that they have a high level of consumer protection (excluding food safety) in their own countries, just one-fifth (20.3%) of European consumers feel this is the case for them in the rest of the European Union. 5 Other aspects of consumer confidence show similar results, with European figures nearly universally below national figures (with the exception of Greece, where confidence in consumer protection in other countries of the EU 15 is above confidence in Greece). The second section of this report looks at the knowledge consumers have about their rights and on their opinions on the involvement of consumer association in formulating consumer protection policy. There is a considerable gap between consumer knowledge among Europeans in their own countries and in other EU countries. The third section of the report is devoted to consumers opinions on the impact of the Single European Market on price, quality and choice of products and services, excluding food safety. 6 This analysis is carried out on the national and European level, as well as on the basis of socio-demographic categories. Overall, a plurality of Europeans feel that the Single European Market has had a fairly positive impact upon these aspects. The report also looks at the purchasing behaviour of European consumers in other EU 15 countries and their exposure to advertising. 2 Details on eurobarometer 57.2 are available at 3 The EU 15 is composed of Belgium (B), Denmark (DK), Western Germany (D WEST), Germany (D TOTAL), Eastern Germany (D OST), Greece (GR), Spain (E), France (F), Ireland (IRL), Italy (I), Luxembourg (L), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (A), Portugal (P), Finland (FIN), Sweden (S) and the United Kingdom (UK). 4 All references to Europeans, unless otherwise specified, mean respondents of the survey in the EU 15. Likewise, references to EU, Europe or use of the adjective European refer to the EU See Q See Question Q 28 in the questionnaire of EB 59.2 in the Annex. Future references to the annex will be in the format of See Q 28. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

10 Consumer Protection and Confidence A series of five different questions on consumer safety, protection and rights shows quite a range across the EU 15 of consumer confidence. All five of these aspects are shown in the figure below. Europeans show most confidence in the safety of non-food products and the least in consumer protection for purchases made on the Internet. For all aspects, European consumers show more confidence in consumer protection in their own countries than in other countries of the European Union. 60 Q 27, Q33-36: Europeans' Opinions on Consumer Safety and Protection, Yes safety of non-food products Yes, in other EU countries safety of services high level of consumer protection legislation on consumer protection applied in practice high level of consumer internet protection High Level of Consumer Protection 7 When asked generally as to whether they believe they have a high level of protection as consumers (not taking food safety into account) in their own countries, 8 nearly half (48.5%) of Europeans answer positively (see figures above and below). Northern Europeans 9 have a stronger level of consumer confidence than the EU 15 average, with 83.6% of Finns saying they believe they have a high level of consumer protection along with 72.4% of Swedes and 71.6% of Danes. At the other end of the scale, just 19.9% of Greeks, 21.9% of Italians and 7 Q Q 27 a. 9 «Northern Europeans», in this report, covers Denmark, Finland and Sweden EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

11 Q 27a: High Level of Consumer Protection in Own Country, 2003 FIN S DK A NL F UK TOTAL D WEST L D TOTAL B EU IRL D OST E P I GR % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Yes No It depends DK 29.7% of Portuguese believe so (the Spanish are the fourth-lowest, at 43.8%), showing a clear regional differentiation. It appears there is a slight correspondence between lack of confidence in one s own country and increased confidence in other EU 15 countries. 10 About one-fifth (20.5%) of Europeans overall say that they believe they have a high level of protection in other EU countries, with Greece (30.5%), Spain (30.2%) and Belgium (27.9%) the highest. While, as noted, Greece has the lowest belief in consumer protection for its own country (19.9%), it has the highest for other EU countries (30.5%). Italy has the lowest overall confidence, 10 Q 27 b. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

12 Q 27b: High level of Consumer Protection in Other EU Countries, 2003 GR E A B L P IRL NL F FIN EU D WEST D TOTAL D OST UK TOTAL DK I S % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK ranking second-lowest both for own country and with respect to other EU countries, at 21.9% and 13.0%, respectively. Sweden has the lowest confidence in other EU countries, ranking 11.5%, and Denmark is the third-lowest, with 14.7 per cent. There is a significantly higher response rate for don t know for this question on the EU 15 level, at 39.7%, than on the national level, of 8.6 per cent. The don t know responses are quite significant higher, in fact, than any other response and are, for this aspect, generally (although by no means always) lower for those with higher yes responses. The highest don t know responses come from Denmark (55.1%), Sweden (49.4%) and the United Kingdom (47.8%) the three EU countries not in the Euro zone. The lowest come from Belgium (28.0%), Luxembourg (27.7%) and Austria (27.4%). EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

13 Safety of non-food Products 11 European consumers place their strongest confidence 12 in a guarantee of the safety of non-food products in their own countries, 13 with 55.1 per cent of Europeans agreeing. Q 33a: Europeans' Opinions on the Guarantee of the Safety of Non- Food Products in their own Countries, 2003 F FIN L B A DK E NL D WEST D TOTAL S EU UK TOTAL IRL D OST P I GR % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Yes No It depends DK There is somewhat of a regional trend, with Greece (26.4%), Italy (39.3%) and Portugal (41.0%) at the bottom of the scale (while Spain is toward the top, with 61.0%). France (68.4%), Finland (67.5%) and Luxembourg (63.0%) are the three most confident countries. 11 Q33a and Q33b 12 This survey does not cover food safety issues. 13 Q33a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

14 There is a 10-point difference (47.4% to 57.7%) between Eastern Germany 14 and Western Germany. Don t know responses are relatively low, with Germany having the highest responses with Eastern Germany (19.1%) higher than Western Germany (16.6%). In terms of believing in a guarantee of the safety of non-food products in other EU 15 countries, 15 just over a quarter (28.4%) of Europeans agree. For the most part, confidence levels are lower on the European level than on the national level. Germans (22.4%), the British (20.7%) and the Swedes (12.7%) are the least confident. Spain (39.8%), Belgium (39.1%) and Portugal (35.9%) are the most confident. While both Belgium and Spain were among the most confident for their own countries, Portugal was among the least confident. (see graph next page) 14 Eurobarometer provides data for D OST, which consists of the five new federal states which made up East Germany, and for D WEST, which is consists of the nine old federal states which made up West Germany. D TOTAL combines the two. This report will refer to Eastern Germany, Western Germany, East Germans and West Germans for ease of reading. 15 Q33b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

15 Q 33b: Europeans' Opinions on the Guarantee of the Safety of Non-Food Products in other EU Countries, 2003 E B P A IRL L F GR EU I NL FIN DK D WEST D TOTAL UK TOTAL D OST S % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK Interestingly, while Germany, the UK and Sweden were not on the low end of the scale for confidence in one s own country, neither were they at the high end, suggesting that confidence in one s own country and in other European countries is not necessarily linked, but may be the result of two distinct decision processes. The don t know responses are considerably higher for data for other EU countries than for one s own country, with Denmark (47.2%), Greece (43.8%) and Italy (43.8%) being the most unsure, in contrast with Luxembourg (21.7%), Austria (26.4%) and Belgium (27.0%). EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

16 Safety of Services With respect to a guarantee of the safety of services, slightly over half (50.4%) of Europeans believe that these are guaranteed in their own country. 16 There is a regional Q 34a: Europeans' Opinions on the Guarantee of Safety of Services in their own countries, 2003 FIN A F B DK E L NL D WEST D TOTAL EU UK TOTAL S D OST IRL P I GR % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK distinction, with Southern Europeans, for the most part, having less confidence in this guarantee. The Finns, with 79.0%, have the highest confidence in the guarantee of the safety of services in their own country, followed by the Austrians with 64.4% and the French with 62.7 per cent. As noted, Southern Europeans tend to have less confidence, with 35.8% of the Portuguese agreeing that the safety of services is guaranteed, 31.4% of Italians doing so, and 22.2% of Greeks. The Spanish are, however, above the EU 15 average with 56.3 per cent. It depends and don t know responses show little remarkable variation across countries. 16 Q 34a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

17 European consumers confidence in the guarantee of the safety of services in other EU 15 countries 17 is about half of what it is for confidence in their own countries (24.3% for other EU countries, 50.4% for own countries). Again, as above, the countries whose respondents have more confidence in other EU 15 countries are not necessarily those with more confidence in their own countries. Spain (39.5%), Portugal (32.6%) and Belgium (32.5%) are those with the highest confidence in a guarantee of the safety of services in other EU countries. The United Kingdom (17.0%), Denmark (16.1%) and Sweden (9.1%) are those with the least confidence. Denmark has by far the highest rate of don t know responses (59.2%), followed by Sweden with 48.7%, while Luxembourg has a relatively high level of it depends responses (25.7%). (see graph next page) 17 Q34b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

18 Q 34b: Europeans' Opinions on the Guarantee of Safety of Services in other EU Countries, 2003 E P B GR A IRL F L EU FIN I NL D WEST D TOTAL UK TOTAL DK D OST S % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK Enforcement of Legislation on Consumer Protection When asked as to whether they think legislation on consumer protection is applied in practice in their own countries, 18 slightly under half of Europeans (46.8%) respond positively (see figure below). There is a clear geographical distribution, with Portugal (28.7%), Italy (19.1%) and Greece (15.2%) the countries with the lowest positive responses. Spain is the fourth-lowest with 41.8 per cent. The highest are the Nordic countries, with 76.8% of Finns agreeing and 76.2% of Danes and 62.7% of Swedes doing so. One interesting point is the nearly 12-percentage point gap between Eastern and Western Germany (44.7% to 56.5%) in thinking that legislation is applied in practice. By far the highest negative response is from Greece, with a staggering 64.6% of respondents saying that legislation on consumer 18 Q35a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

19 protection is not applied in Greece. The EU average is 25.2 per cent. Don t know responses tend to increase as positive responses decrease, although this does not hold true for Greece. FIN DK Q 35 a: Legislation on Consumer Protection Applied in Own Country, A S D WEST F NL UK TOTAL D TOTAL B L EU D OST IRL E P I GR % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Yes No It depends DK With respect to legislation applied to them in other EU 15 countries, 19 Southern Europeans tend to be more optimistic than Northern Europeans. While just 19.9% of all Europeans believe such legislation is applied, 32.9% of Greeks believe so, as do 31.2% of Spaniards and 27.0% of Portuguese. Greece the most negative of all EU countries for legislation applied in one s own country is the most positive of all EU countries for legislation applied in other EU countries. While there thus does appear to be a geographical dimension in that Southern Europeans are more positive, Italy has the second-lowest yes rate in the EU 15. Sweden has the lowest, at 8.7% and Germany the third-lowest, at 17.0% (Eastern Germany is at 15.7%). 19 Q35b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

20 Q35b: Legislation on Consumer Protection Applied in other EU Countries, 2003 GR E P IRL B A NL DK EU F FIN L D WEST UK TOTAL D TOTAL I D OST S % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK The don t know responses for this question are quite high, with an average 49.4 per cent. Indeed, this figure is the highest don t know response for any of the five consumer safety and protection questions posed here, indicating quite strongly that this is the issue about which most Europeans are insecure. They do not necessarily feel negatively about the issue, but nearly half are unsure enough to not be able to give an opinion. Denmark (63.5%) and Sweden (61.6%) have the highest don t know responses. Internet Protection The point on which European consumers have the lowest confidence in their own countries is consumer protection for Internet purchases, although it must be noted that an average 9.5% of Europeans say that this point is not applicable to them. 20 Just 22.4% of all 20 Q 36a. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

21 Europeans believe they have a high level of protection when they buy something via the Internet from a seller or shop located in their own countries (see figure below). The Southern European countries are again the most sceptical respondents, with 17.7% of the Portuguese, 10.6% of Italians and 7.8% of Greeks believing they have a high level of protection. The Spaniards are the fourth-lowest, with 18.5 per cent. The Finns are the most confident, with 43.3% believing they have a high level of protection for Internet purchases, followed by 34.8% of the Danes and 31.6% of the British. Don t know responses are highest in Spain, with 41.0% of Spaniards giving this response. Q36 a: High Level of Protection for Internet Purchases in Own Country, 2003 FIN DK A UK TOTAL S IRL F D WEST D TOTAL EU NL L B E D OST P I GR % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends Not applicable DK Europeans are considerably more sceptical of protection of Internet purchases made in another country, with just 9.7% of Europeans believing that there is a high level of protection for Internet purchases made from sellers or shops located in another EU country and an equal percentage saying that this question is not applicable. Those who were most EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

22 confident with respect to other EU countries were neither particularly confident nor particularly sceptical with respect to their own countries: the Austrians are the most confident, at 18.7%, followed by the Irish at 17.6% and the Luxembourgers at 14.5 per cent. The least confident are the Germans, at 6.1% (East Germans are very slightly more confident, at 6.2%) and the Italians and Swedes, both at 6.6 per cent. Luxembourg has a particularly low don t know response rate, but a particularly high not applicable rate. Portugal (52.3%), Spain (54.0%) and Greece (48.3%) all have quite high don t know rates, as does the UK (51.0%), although Italy (40.2%) is below the EU average for don t know. A clear regional differentiation is thus not present. A Q 36 b: High Level of Protection for Internet Purchases in other EU Countries, IRL P L E DK UK TOTAL F GR B EU FIN NL S I D OST D TOTAL D WEST % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends Not applicable DK EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

23 Q 27, Q33-36: Consumer Confidence, 2003 B DK D WEST D TOTAL D OST GR E F IRL I L NL A P FIN S UK TOTAL EU 15 High level of consumer protection in our country High level of consumer protection in other EU countries Safety of non-food products guaranteed in our country Safety of non-food products guaranteed in other EU countries Safety of services guaranteed in our country Safety of services guaranteed in other EU countries Legislation on consumer protection applied in practice in our country Legislation on consumer protection applied in practice in other EU countries High level of protection when buy via Internet from company located in our country High level of protection when buy via Internet from company located in other EU country EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP 59.2 SUMMER

24 Socio-demographic profiles Introduction to 15 yrs yrs yrs Still studying Managers Other white collars Manual workers Housepersons Retired Students Left Centre rural area or village small or mid-sized t large town Euro zone DK, S, UK Increasing With respect to socio-demographic variables, there is also a considerable amount of variation in consumer confidence. Broadly speaking, gender, age, education, income and place of residence all play a role. In general, the younger the person, the more likely he or she is to have confidence in aspects of consumer protection and safety, both for his/her own country and for other EU countries. In some cases, there is a direct progression from younger age groups to older age groups. In other cases, the higher confidence will be one of the younger age groups, and the lower confidence one of the older age groups. This trend holds for questions on both one s own country and on other EU 15 countries. Q34ab, Q35ab, Q36ab: Socio-Demographic Breakdown of Five Aspects of Consumer Confidence, 2003 High level of consumer protection High level of consumer protection in EU safety of non-food products safety of non-food products in EU Male Female Self-employed Unemployed Right EU safety of services safety of services in EU leg on consumer protection applied leg on consumer protection applied in EU high level of consumer Internet protection high level of consumer Internet protection in EU EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP 59.2 SUMMER

25 Increasing education also increases the rate of positive response, as does increasing income, living in a large town and being male. Don t know responses are fairly consistently linked to positive responses where positive responses are lower, don t know responses are higher. Age, income, education, occupation and gender are, thus, also linked to don t know responses: lower income, higher age, lower education and being female all result in higher don t know responses. These groups are not necessarily more negative than those younger, better educated, with more income, etc., (in fact, their negative responses are often lower) but they appear to be more hesitant to express an opinion. Political orientation (right, left, centre) appears to play only a slight role here, although those who are right-leaning often have slightly stronger consumer confidence in their own countries, whereas those who are left-leaning do so for other EU countries. In terms of occupation, managers and students are consistently the most positive, while the most negative responses are divided among the unemployed (overwhelmingly so), the retired and house persons. In the table above, the highest figures for each broad category (age, education, occupation, political orientation, region of origin, income level and Eurozone/non-Euro zone) are highlighted, showing trends across all aspects of consumer confidence for first, in one s own country and, second, in other EU countries. In this section, two questions (Q27: high level of consumer protection; Q33: safety of non-food products) will be discussed in full detail, and, as the same trends persist across all questions, the other data for yes responses are noted in the table above. High Level of Consumer Protection The range of yes responses to the question of whether one has a high level of consumer protection in one s own country 21 reaches from 42.7% of the unemployed, 43.2% of house persons and 43.5% of those with up to 15 years of education to 59.3% of those in Denmark, Sweden and the UK (the non-euro zone), 55.9% of managers and 54.8% of those with a right-leaning political orientation. 21 Q 27a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

26 Q27 a: Socio-demographic Breakdown: High Level of Consumer Protection in Own Country, 2003 EU DK, S, UK Euro zone (++) (+) (-) (--) Large town small or mid-size town Rural area/vlg Right Centre Left students retired unemployed house person manual workers other white collars managers self-employed still studying yrs educ yrs educ to 15 yrs educ yrs yrs yrs yrs Female Male Yes No It depends 0% DK 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Within each socio-demographic category (gender, age, education, occupation, political orientation, residence, income), there are often distinct progressions: 50.9% of year olds answered positively, as did 48.7% of year-olds, 48.1% of year-olds and 47.5% of over 55-year-olds. A similar pattern holds true for education level, with 43.5% of those with under 15 years of education answering positively with respect to their own countries, but 53.8% of those still studying doing so. With respect to income, 54.5% of those in the highest income category believed they had a high level of consumer protection, compared to 47.8% of those in the lowest category. Managers were, at 55.9%, the most confident, while the unemployed, at 42.7%, were the least confident. Political orientation EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

27 plays somewhat of a role, with 54.8% of those right-leaning agreeing that they have a high level of consumer protection in their own countries, and 47.3% of those left-leaning saying so. Gender plays a role, with 49.9% of men responding positively, but just 47.2% of women doing so. Don t know responses do not show great variation, although there is generally a progression across different categories: lower income results in higher uncertainty (range from 4.4% for the highest income bracket to 11.5% for the lowest), as does less education (5.3% for those with more than 20 years of education to 11.8% for those with 15 years or less), although the same does not hold true for age (see table above). The overall highest don t know response was for those aged 15-24, while the overall lowest was for managers (3.9%). For the same question, applied to other EU countries, 22 the highest positive responses came from those still studying (26.1%), students (25.9%) and managers (25.2%). The lowest positive responses came from those with up to 15 years of education (17.6%), the non-euro zone (16.1%) and the unemployed (15.9%). Within each category, there are, again, progressions: increasing age leads to decreasing positive responses (those aged 15-24: 24.1%; 25-39: 21.9%; 40-54: 19.6%; 55+: 17.9%). Higher education leads to higher positive responses, as does, for the most part, increasing income (see figure below). Occupational groups already have the highest and lowest positive response rates overall, with students (25.9%), managers (25.2%) and the unemployed (15.9%). Political orientation plays little role, while the non-euro zone is less confident here than the Euro zone. The overall three highest don t know responses are the non-euro zone (48.5%), those with up to 15 years of education (45.5%) and the retired (45.3%) in other words, those which have the lowest positive responses. The overall three lowest don t responses are managers (31.7%), the self-employed (33.0%) and those in the highest income category (33.6%). It should be noted, however, that the don t know responses are, in every case, higher than the positive responses. (See graph next page) 22 Q27b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

28 Q27b: Socio-Demographic Breakdown: Level of High Consumer Protection in Other EU Countries, 2003 EU 15 20, ,7 DK, S, UK 16,1 26,1 9,3 48,5 Euro zone 21,3 28,4 12,6 37,7 (++) 24 29,3 13,1 33,6 (+) 21,4 28,4 13,1 37,1 (-) 22,1 29,4 10,7 37,8 (--) 18,5 27,7 10,1 43,6 Large tow n 21,5 26,8 13,8 37,9 small or mid-size tow n 20 28,4 12,3 39,3 Rural area/vlg 19,5 28,9 9,8 41,8 Right 21,2 30,9 11,8 36,1 Centre 21,4 28,1 12,8 37,7 Left 21,4 28,2 11,4 39 students 25,9 23,2 10,5 40,4 retired 18,1 26,5 10,1 45,3 unemployed 15,9 29,4 11,5 43,2 house person 19,6 26,5 10,8 43,1 manual w orkers 19,1 29,7 13,3 38 other w hite collars 21, ,9 36,9 managers 25,2 28,2 14,8 31,7 self-employed 20, ,2 33 still studying 26,1 23,6 10,5 39,8 20+ yrs educ 22,5 28,5 14,4 34, yrs educ 19,6 28,7 13,2 38,5 to 15 yrs educ 17,6 28,1 8,8 45,5 55+ yrs 17,9 27, yrs 19,6 29,9 12,7 37, yrs 21,9 29,3 13,1 35, yrs 24,1 24,3 11,1 40,5 Female 18, ,6 42,8 Male 22, ,4 36,3 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK Safety of Non-Food Products On the issue of whether the safety of non-food products is guaranteed in one s own country, 23 there are again differences on the basis of socio-demographic groups. The three groups with the most positive responses are managers (63.2%), those in the highest income category (62.0%), and in the second-highest income category (59.2%). The three lowest are 23 Q33a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

29 those with up to 15 years of education (49.4%), the unemployed (49.8%), and house persons (51.5%). Education and income once again play a predictive role, with higher education (up to 15 years: 49.4%, years: 56.1%; 20+ years: 59.5%) and income (lowest income: 52.3%, next-to-lowest: 59.2%, second-highest: 59.2%, highest: 62.0%) Q33a: Socio-Demographic Breakdown: Guarantee of Safety of non-food Products in Own Country, 2003 EU DK, S, UK Euro zone (++) (+) (-) (--) Large tow n small or mid-size tow n Rural area/vlg Right Centre Left students retired unemployed house person manual w orkers other w hite collars managers self-employed still studying yrs educ yrs educ to 15 yrs educ yrs yrs yrs yrs Female Male % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Yes No It depends DK predicting higher positive response. Within the other socio-demographic categories, males are more positive than females (57.3% to 53.1%), while those aged are the most positive of all age groups. Different occupations once again include the overall highest and the overall lowest positive results. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

30 Don t know responses once again vary with positive results, with those who answered most positively also having the lowest don t know responses. The highest don t know responses come from those with up to 15 years of education (15.5%), those still studying (15.2%), females (15.1%) and students (15.1%). The lowest come from those in the highest income category (7.8%), managers (9.1%), those with more than 20 years of education (9.1%) and those with a left-leaning political orientation. For the same question referring to other EU countries, 24 a similar pattern holds: those with the lowest positive response concerning the guarantee of the safety of non-food products in other EU countries are: those in the non-euro zone (20.0%), the unemployed (23.2%) and the retired (23.9%). The three highest are managers (34.2%), students (34.1%) and those in the highest income category (34.1%). Within each socio-demographic category, there are again progressions: education (up to 15 years: 25.0%; years: 26.9%; 20+ years: 33.3%; still studying: 33/7%), income (lowest category: 22.9%; next-to-lowest: 31.5%; second-highest: 31.7%; highest: 34.1%) and, to a certain extent (excluding year-olds), age (15-24: 31.5%; 25-39: 31.0%; 40-54: 29.2%; 55+: 24.4%). Within occupations, the overall highest (managers: 34.2%) and overall second-lowest (unemployed: 23.2%) are included. Men are more positive than women (30.6% to 26.4%) and the left-leaning are slightly more positive than the right- or centre-leaning. The Euro zone is considerably more positive than the non-euro zone (30.4% to 20.0%). With respect to don t know responses, higher don t know responses correspond once again to lower positive responses. The lowest don t know responses are from managers (29.4%), those in the highest income category (30.8%) and those with more than 20 years of education (32.4%). The highest are from those with up to 15 years of education (43.9%), those aged over 55 years (43.7%) and the retired (43.3%). For this question, don t know responses are not always higher than positive responses (this is the case for managers, those with more than 20 years of education and those in the highest income category). (see graph next page) 24 Q27b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

31 Q 33b: Socio-Demographic Breakdown: Guarantee of Safety of non-food Products in other EU Countries, 2003 EU DK, S, UK Euro zone (++) (+) (-) (--) Large tow n small or mid-size tow n Rural area/vlg Right Centre Left students retired unemployed house person manual w orkers other w hite collars managers self-employed still studying yrs educ yrs educ to 15 yrs educ yrs yrs yrs yrs Female Male % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

32 Consumer Confidence: Overall Socio-Demographic Trends Responses for the other consumer confidence questions guarantee of safety of services (Q34ab), whether legislation on consumer protection is applied in practice (Q35ab) and whether there is a high level of protection for purchases made on the Internet (Q36ab) are similar. These three questions will thus, to avoid undue repetition, be discussed generally with reference to the yes positive responses to each of these questions; remarkable points of each will be discussed. For the ease of comparison, all five questions (including Q27: high level of consumer confidence and Q33: guarantee of the safety of nonfood products) will be discussed here. For all questions, both with relevance to one s own country and to other EU countries, men respond more positively than women. For the most part, younger respondents respond more positively than older, although with respect to the question of whether legislation on consumer protection is applied, those aged responded most positively. For every question, more education translates into higher consumer confidence (i.e. those who had more than 20 years of education were more confident than those with years of education, who were more confident than those with up to 15 years of education). In a majority of cases, those still studying expressed even more confidence than those who had studied more than 20 years. In terms of occupation, managers and students were consistently the two most confident groups. The unemployed, for the most part, were the least confident, except for the question on legislation and on protection for internet purchases. With respect to the application of legislation on consumer protection in one s own country, the self-employed were least confident and for other EU countries, house persons were least confident. On the question of consumer protection for purchases made on the Internet both in one s own country and in other EU countries, the retired were the least confident. Political orientation appears to have little significance. With respect to residence, confidence was evenly divided between those from small or mid-sized towns and those from large towns. Income is again a clear predictor of opinion: in nine cases out of ten, those in the highest income group were the most confident. Only for the question of whether legislation on consumer protection was applied in other EU countries were those in the next-to-lowest income group the most confident. The Euro zone and non-euro zone (Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom) were evenly divided in terms of confidence, with the non-euro zone more confident in their own countries (in four cases out of the five) and the Euro zone more confident about protection in EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

33 the EU (four out of five cases). Overall, across the EU 15, and across all aspects of consumer confidence, the socio-demographic profile of the more confident respondent is of a younger, more highly educated, higher income city dweller. Conclusion These data clearly show that there are also significant differences both among European countries and, as discussed above, within them, on the basis of sociodemographic criteria. For all the different consumer confidence aspects discussed, 25 only Greece has higher confidence in other EU countries than in its own country in every single case. As seen in the table below, Greece is the overall least positive for every single issue with respect to Greece, but is above the EU 15 average in confidence for every issue with respect to other EU countries. Portugal also has a similar pattern, with confidence levels below the EU average with respect to Portugal, but above the EU average for other EU countries. Italy is below the EU average for every aspect both with respect to Italy and to the EU, while Spain tends to be somewhat more positive. Ireland is similar, with responses below the EU average for Ireland, but above the EU average for other EU countries with the exception of a high level of protection for the Internet in Ireland, where the Irish are more confident than the EU 15 average. Germany and (with the exception of safety of services) Sweden have precisely the opposite pattern, with confidence levels above the EU 15 average for their own countries and below the EU average for other EU countries. Eastern Germany is less confident than the EU average for every aspect. Finland and Denmark are consistently on the high end of the scale for agreeing with statements referring to one s own country but are, for the most part, neither the highest nor the lowest with reference to other EU 15 countries. Belgians are more confident than the EU average for every aspect, both for Belgium and for the EU, except for the question of a high level of protection for purchases on the Internet, where they are less confident about Belgium and slightly more confident for other EU countries. France is above the EU average for every aspect except for the question of whether consumer protection legislation is applied in practice in other EU countries. Austria is more confident than the EU average for every aspect. Other EU countries do not appear to have identifiable trends or patterns in terms of their responses to these consumer confidence issues. 25 Q27: high level of protection, Q33: safety of non-food products, Q34: safety of services, Q35: legislation on consumer protection applied; Q36: high level of protection for Internet purchases. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

34 Q 27, Q33-36: Consumer Safety and Confidence: National Trends, 2003 legislation high level legislation on high level of high level safety of on consumer of protection high level of safety of non-food safety of consumer protection protection for Internet of protectio n non-food products in safety of services in protection applied in for Internet purchases protection in EU products EU services EU applied EU purchases in EU most positive FIN GR F E FIN E FIN GR FIN A S E FIN B A P DK E DK IRL DK A L P F B A P A P A B B A B GR S IRL UK TOTAL L NL L A IRL DK A D WEST B S E F P DK L E IRL F A IRL DK UK TOTAL IRL E F L F NL NL F UK TOTAL D WEST NL NL GR NL L UK TOTAL DK D WEST F L F D WEST EU 15 D WEST EU 15 D TOTAL EU 15 D TOTAL GR D TOTAL FIN D TOTAL I D TOTAL FIN B F EU 15 B B EU 15 S NL EU 15 I L FIN NL EU 15 EU 15 D WEST EU 15 FIN UK TOTAL NL EU 15 L L FIN IRL D TOTAL UK TOTAL DK S D WEST D OST D WEST B NL D OST D OST IRL D WEST D OST D TOTAL IRL UK TOTAL E S E UK TOTAL D OST D TOTAL IRL UK TOTAL E D TOTAL D OST I P DK P UK TOTAL P DK P I P D OST I I I D OST I D OST I D OST I D TOTAL least positive GR S GR S GR S GR S GR D WEST Overall, the survey highlights the fact that Europeans still have considerably more confidence in consumer protection in their own countries than in other EU countries, however, this is clearly more strongly the case in Northern than in Southern Europe. The higher the trust one has in one s own country, the more sceptical the attitude toward consumer protection in other EU countries (especially among the Northern Europeans). Conversely, those Europeans (in particular Southern Europeans) who are less certain of consumer protection in their own countries tend to have higher trust in other EU 15 countries. This phenomenon is most striking in the Greek case. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

35 Q27, Q 33-36: EU 15 Opinions on Consumer Safety and Protection, 2003 Guarantee of safety of non-food products in ow n country Guarantee of safety of services in ow n country High level of consumer protection in ow n country Legislation on consumer protection enforced in ow n country? Guarantee of safety of nonfood products in EU Guarantee of safety of services in EU High level of protection for Internet purchases in ow n country? High level of consumer protection in EU Legislation on consumer protection enforced in EU? High level of protection for Internet purchases in EU? % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK In general, however, as can be seen in the figure above, which is organized by decreasing positive response, those issues on which Europeans have the most confidence in their own countries are generally also the issues on which they have the most confidence in Europe. In nearly all cases (except that of Greece), Europeans have more confidence in their own countries than in other EU countries. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

36 Consumer Knowledge Access to Means of Dispute Settlement Just over half (51.6%) of Europeans say that they think they have access to ways to settle disputes when they buy products in their own country (see figure below). 26 For this question, there is quite a wide range, with the high end of the scale at 78.6% and the low Q37a: Access to Means of Dispute Settlement When Products or Services are Bought in Own Country, 2003 S FIN DK NL D WEST D TOTAL F UK TOTAL A D OST L EU IRL B E P GR I % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Yes No It depends DK end at 25.8 per cent. There is a distinct regional bias, with the Northern Europeans at the high end of the scale, with Sweden (78.6%), Finland (77.8%) and Denmark (74.4%) the 26 Q37a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

37 highest. Southern Europe is at the lower end of the scale, with Portugal (30.8%), Greece (27.0%) and Italy (25.8%) the lowest. Spain is the fourth-lowest with 43.7 per cent. Interestingly, the highest negative responses are not linked to the very lowest positive responses, but instead to the second- and third-lowest positive responses. The Portuguese and the Greeks (second- and third-lowest) have lower it depends and don t know responses than do the Italians. Don t know responses increase, for the most part, as positive responses decrease. France, Austria, Luxembourg and Greece are, however, exceptions to this general rule, with lower don t know responses. When asked as to whether they believe they have access to means of dispute settlement in other EU countries when one buys products or services, 27 just under one-fifth Q37b: Access to Means of Dispute Settlement When Products or Services are Bought in other EU Countries, 2003 GR E P A IRL L B S F EU DK FIN D WEST NL D TOTAL UK TOTAL I D OST % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK 27 Q37b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

38 (17.8%) of Europeans respond positively. Nearly half (49.8%) say that they don t know. As seen above, don t know responses are, in general, quite high for questions relating to other EU 15 countries. Here, Austria (36.0%), Luxembourg (34.4%) and Belgium (42.0%) have the lowest don t know responses, while the United Kingdom (60.0%), Denmark (59.5%) and the Netherlands (59.3%) have the highest. Germany (15.9%), the United Kingdom (13.8%) and Italy (12.4%) expressed the lowest positive opinion, while Greeks (27.9%), Spaniards (27.4%) and Portuguese (24.0%) are the Europeans with the strongest belief that they have access to means of dispute settlement in other EU countries. The Northern Europeans, while not holding the lowest positions are, nonetheless, not noticeably impressed about their options of dispute settlement outside their own countries (18.5% of Swedes believe they have access to such means, while 17.5% of Danes and 17.4% of Finns do so). Overall, when Europeans are asked as to whether they actually know of these means of dispute settlement other than going to court (i.e., mediation, conciliation, arbitration), over one-third (37.2%) of Europeans respond positively. 28 The countries with the lowest positive response rates are: Spain (20.3%), Portugal (24.3%) and Italy (30.8%). Sweden (54.5%), 90 Q37/Q38: Access to and Awareness of Means of Dispute Settlement, E P I B D OST GR D TOTAL D WEST L EU 15 F IRL FIN UK TOTAL A S DK NL Have access to dispute settlement in ow n country Have access to dispute settlement in EU countries Aw are of w ays to settle disputes Denmark (55.6%) and the Netherlands (72.1%) are the countries with the respondents who are most aware of the means of dispute settlement. Interestingly, the positive response rate to this question is, in almost all cases (except that of the Netherlands, Italy and Greece), 28 Q38 EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

39 below the rate of European consumers who say that they think they can have access to means of dispute settlement in their own country. The response is even, in the case of Spain, lower than the percentage of those who say that they think they can have access to such means in other EU countries (see figure above). This finding suggests that there is strong confidence across the EU 15 on the national level that dispute settlement options are available, even if specific knowledge about such options is not widespread. There is some correspondence between a high percentage of respondents saying they think they have access to means of dispute settlement and those saying they know which means exist. The Dutch (72.1%), Danes (55.6%) and the Swedes (54.5%) have the most knowledge of the existence of means of dispute settlement, while the Danes, Swedes and Finns believe most strongly that they have access to means of dispute settlement in their own countries. The Italians (30.8%), Portuguese (24.3%) and the Spanish (20.3%) have the lowest awareness of means of dispute settlement, again showing that a regional bias does exist, to some extent (the Greeks, at 33.1%, are also below the EU average of 37.2%). Knowledge of Rights as Consumers Europeans do not overwhelmingly believe that they know enough about their rights as consumers. 29 Somewhat under one-third (29.1%) of Europeans believe that they know enough about their rights as consumers under their own country s laws. The Northern Europeans are again the countries where respondents feel that they have the strongest knowledge of their own rights, with Finland (46.8%), Sweden (43.7%) and Denmark (39.3%) topping the list. Portugal (20.9%), Spain (20.5%) and Belgium (20.0%) are the lowest countries on the list, showing regional differentiation (with Eastern Germany and Belgium at the very bottom) once again. For this question, there are very low levels of don t know responses, with the highest being just 15.3%, from Austria, and the lowest 2.2%, from Sweden. 29 Q39a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

40 FIN S DK Q39a: Know Enough About Rights as a Consumer in Own Country, UK TOTAL NL A IRL D WEST L EU F D TOTAL I GR P E B D OST Yes No DK 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Eastern Germany, however, is the lowest overall, at 19.0%, contrasting to the 30.0% of Western Germany. In terms of knowing about their rights under European laws, 30 Europeans are far less confident (7.1% EU 15 average), with a high of 17.5% of Austrians saying they know enough about their rights, followed by 13.4% of the Irish and 11.8% of the Luxembourgers. The least confident are the Swedes, with 3.0%, the Germans with 3.1%, and the Finns with 4.6 per cent. The Southern Europeans, with the exception of Italy, are above the EU average in knowing enough about their rights, as consumers, under European laws. In the case of Greece and Portugal, they are substantially above the average (11.4% and 10.5%, respectively, compared to 7.1%). 30 Q39b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

41 Q39b: Know Enough about Rights as a Consumer under European Laws, 2003 A IRL L GR NL P E F B EU I UK TOTAL DK FIN D OST D TOTAL D WEST S Yes No DK 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Involvement of Consumer Associations When asked as to whether consumer associations are involved enough in formulating consumer protection policy in their own countries, just under one-quarter (22.1%) feel that they are involved enough while 56.8% feel that they should be more involved. 31 Some 21.0% do not know. Portugal, with 38.2%, the Netherlands with 33.1% and Denmark with 30.9% are those countries in which the largest percentage of respondents state that consumer associations are enough involved in formulating policy. Southern European countries are, in this case, at both ends of the range. Greece, with 3.7%, Spain with 14.3% and Ireland with 18.4% are the three countries in which respondents least feel that consumer associations are involved enough. Greece is clearly the country which feels most strongly 31 Q40a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

42 about the issue: some 83.7% note that consumer associations should be more involved, and just 12.6% do not know. There is, again, a difference between Eastern and Western Germany, with 16.1% and 22.8%, respectively. Q40a: Involvement of Consumer Associations in Formulating Consumer Protection Policy in Own Country, 2003 P NL DK FIN S A UK TOTAL F D WEST EU D TOTAL B L I IRL D OST E GR % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Enough involved Should be more involved DK Considerably more Europeans some 42.1% gave don t know responses to the same question applied to other EU 15 countries. 32 Just 10.1% of Europeans feel that consumer associations are involved enough in formulating policy in other European countries while 47.8% believe they should be more involved. Here again there are wide differences; Portugal believes quite strongly that consumer associations are enough involved some 30.4% of Portuguese agree, along with 15.3% of Austrians and 13.9% of Luxembourgers. On the bottom end of the scale are the Swedes, with 4.6%, the Finns with 6.2% and the Germans with 6.6 per cent. The East Germans are also quite low at 5.3 per cent. Portugal has an unusually high percentage agreeing that consumer associations are 32 Q40b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

43 involved nearly twice as high as the second highest (Austria). Portugal also has the lowest percentage of respondents believing that consumer associations should be more involved, at 21.6 per cent, and is slightly above average for don t know responses. Q40b: Involvement of Consumer Associations in Formulating Consumer Protection Policy in other EU Countries, 2003 P A L NL UK TOTAL GR B IRL EU I E F DK D WEST D TOTAL FIN D OST S % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Enough involved Should be more involved DK EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

44 One final question involves the consideration or integration of consumer rights in EU policies other than consumer protection, such as agricultural policy, transport, energy, telecommunication and competition policy % of EU consumers think that consumer rights are sufficiently taken into account in other EU policies; 44.6% think they are not; 12% say that it depends and 28.8% do not know. The Dutch (29.4%), Danes (24.8%), Irish (21.8%) and Finns (20.9%) believe most strongly that their rights as consumers are sufficiently taken into account in these other EU policies. The Spanish (12.1%), East Germans (11.9%, compared to Western Germany s 15.4%), Luxembourgers (11.8%), Greeks (11.1%) and Swedes (9.0%) believe so least strongly. The countries which believe most strongly that their rights are not taken into account are the Greeks (58.4%), Spanish (56.2%), Portuguese (56.1%) and French (52.7%). The don t know and it depends responses account for the discrepancy in these two rankings. (See graph next page) 33 Q41 EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

45 Q41: Are Rights as a Consumer Sufficiently Taken into Account in other European Policies such as Agricultural, Energy, Telecommunication, Competition? 2003 NL DK IRL FIN A D WEST UK TOTAL EU D TOTAL B P F I E D OST L GR S % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No It depends DK In terms of national trends for this set of issues, several are clear. As noted above, Greece, is more positive than the EU 15 average for all issues relating to the EU (and, as before, considerably more negative than the EU 15 average for the issues relating to Greece). However, Greece is near the bottom (just above Sweden) when the question is posed as to whether rights as a consumer are taken into account in other EU policy areas. The significance of this finding is not, however, clear. The same pattern, somewhat less EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

46 Q37-41: Consumer Knowledge: National Trends Access to Means of Dispute Settlement Access to Means of Dispute Settlement in EU Aware of Means of Dispute Settlement Know enough about rights as a consumer Know enough about rights as a consumer in EU Consumer assoc enough involved in formulating consumer protection policy Consumer assoc enough involved in formulating consumer protection policy in EU Rights as a consumer sufficiently taken into account in other EU policy areas? most positive S GR NL FIN A P P NL FIN E DK S IRL NL A DK DK P S DK L DK L IRL NL A A UK TOTAL GR FIN NL FIN D WEST IRL UK TOTAL NL NL S UK TOTAL A D TOTAL L FIN A P A B D WEST F B IRL IRL E UK TOTAL GR UK TOTAL UK TOTAL F F D WEST F F IRL D TOTAL A S EU 15 L B D WEST I EU 15 D OST EU 15 L F EU 15 EU 15 EU 15 B L DK D WEST EU 15 I D TOTAL E P EU 15 D WEST D TOTAL D TOTAL UK TOTAL B F F IRL FIN GR I DK L DK I B NL D OST GR FIN I D WEST E E D TOTAL B P D OST IRL D TOTAL D OST P UK TOTAL I E D WEST D OST FIN L GR I P B D TOTAL E D OST GR least positive I D OST E D OST S GR S S extremely, applies to Belgium and Spain, with confidence in policies relating to the EU above average (except for consumer association involvement) but, for the final question, below average. Sweden is also distinctive with positive responses well above the EU average for questions relating to Sweden, but generally at the bottom for issues relating to the EU with the exception of being aware of means of dispute settlement in the EU. Socio-demographic Profiles The same overall socio-demographic trends hold for this set of questions. As the don t know responses for these issues follow the same pattern which has been discussed above 34 this discussion will instead focus upon the yes or positive responses. With respect to the question of whether they have access to means of dispute settlement in their own countries, 35 those with up to 15 years of education (43.0%), house persons (46.8%) and the retired (47.0%) are the least confident. The EU 15 average is 51.6 per cent. Those in the highest income category (60.1%), those in the non-euro zone (62.3%) and managers (63.7%) are the most confident. For the same question applied to other EU countries, 36 the retired (12.8%), those aged over 55 years (13.8%) and those with up to The lowest "don't know" responses come from those with more than 20 years of education (14.0%), managers (14.6%), and those in the highest income category (14.9%). The highest don t know responses come from those in the lowest income category (25.3%), house persons (26.6%) and those with up to 15 years of education (26.8%). 35 Q37a 36 Q37b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

47 years of education (14.6%) are the least confident. The EU 15 average is 17.8 per cent. In terms of awareness of dispute settlement options, 37 the average is in between the average 70 Q37/Q38:Access to and Awareness of Means of Dispute Settlement, to 15 yrs educ house person retired (--) 55+ yrs Euro zone Female unemployed yrs students Rural area/vlg still studying self-employed small or mid-size town EU 15 Left yrs Large town yrs educ manual workers Male yrs other white collars Right Centre (-) (+) 20+ yrs educ (++) DK, S, UK managers Have access to dispute settlement in ow n country Aw are of w ays to settle disputes Have access to dispute settlement in EU countries for own country (51.6%) and other EU countries (17.8%), at 37.2 per cent. The least knowledgeable are those aged (28.5%), those in the lowest income category (29.3%) and students (29.5%). Those most knowledgeable are those with more than 20 years of education (48.6%), those in the highest income category (49.3%) and managers (54.2%). There is also a progression within education and income increasing education and income translate into increased belief of access to dispute settlement, and increased awareness of possibilities. As with the same question broken down by nationality, there is a correspondence between believing that one has access to means of dispute settlement and being aware of such means. When Europeans are asked, overall, whether they know enough about their rights as consumers under the laws of their own country 38 and under European laws, 39 there is a significant difference between the two average responses, with 29.1% responding positively to the first question and 7.1% to the second. In terms of knowing their rights in their own countries, those with up to 15 years of education (22.6%), the unemployed (22.7%) and 37 Q38 38 Q39a 39 Q39b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

48 those in the lowest income category (22.7%) are the least knowledgeable. Those with more than 20 years of education (36.3%), those in the non-euro zone (38.0%) and managers (38.4%) are the most knowledgeable. There is a correspondence between education and Q39: Socio-Demographic Breakdown of Knowledge of Consumer Rights, Male Female yrs yrs yrs 55+ yrs to 15 yrs educ yrs educ 20+ yrs educ still studying self-employed Yes under country law s Yes under Europeans law s managers other white collars manual workers house person unemployed retired students Left Centre Right Rural area/vlg small or mid-size town Large town (--) (-) (+) (++) Euro zone DK, S, UK EU 15 income, with increasing education and income leading to increasing knowledge of consumer rights in one s own country. For those who say they don't know, the EU average is 17.4%. The lowest is for the non-euro zone at 4.7%, the self-employed with 4.8% and the highest income category (4.8%). Surprisingly, the unemployed are the fourth-lowest at 5.1 but it must be noted that the unemployed have the highest "no" response (72.2%), showing that they are quite clear that they do not know enough about their rights. House persons (9.2%), students (9.2%) and those with up to 15 years of education (10.0%) have the highest rate of "don't know" responses. With respect to consumer rights under European laws, Europeans are, as noted, less secure, with just 7.1% saying that they feel they know enough about their rights as consumers under European laws. 40 Those who are least sure that they know their rights are the unemployed (4.0%), women (5.5%) and those in the lowest income category (5.5%). The most knowledgeable are students (9.8%), those still studying (9.5%) and the self-employed (9.4%). 40 Q39b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

49 Those who say they don t know range from those in the highest income category (13.6%), the unemployed (13.9%) and those in the next-to-lowest income category (14.2%). The EU average is 17.4 per cent. The unemployed are once again, at 82.1% those with the highest "no" response, again explaining their unusually low "don't know" response. Those in the next-to-lowest income category are also quite high (77.1% - EU average is 75.5%) on this response. The highest "don't know" responses come from those with up to 15 years of education (19.9%), the retired (19.8%) and those over 55 years old (19.8%). For knowledge of one s rights as a consumer under European laws, income does not have the same predictive impact as for one s own country, but age and education do. When Europeans are asked as to whether consumer associations have enough involvement in formulating consumer protection policy in their own country, 41 some 22.1% say they are enough involved, 56.8% say they should be more involved and 21.0% do not 35 Q40: Consumer Association Involvement in Formulating Consumer Protection Policy, Male Female yrs yrs yrs 55+ yrs to 15 yrs educ yrs educ Enough involved in ow n country 20+ yrs educ still studying self-employed managers other white collars manual workers house person unemployed retired students Left Centre Enough involved in other countries of the EU Right Rural area/vlg small or mid-size town Large town (--) (-) (+) (++) Euro zone DK, S, UK EU 15 0 know. Those who least feel that consumer associations are enough involved are the unemployed (16.6%), those with up to 15 years of education (17.8%) and those in the lowest income category (19.2%). Those who believe most strongly that the consumer associations are enough involved are those with right-leaning political orientation (26.6%), those in the highest income category (26.7%) and managers (30.6%). Income, age and education all have a predictive value: increasing education, income and age (excluding over 55) all lead to increased belief that consumer associations are enough involved. The groups who had the 41 Q40a EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

50 strongest don t know responses were the non-euro zone with 26.2%, house persons with 25.7% and students at 25.6 per cent. The groups with the lowest don t know responses were managers, with 13.8%, those in the highest income category with 14.2% and those with more than 20 years of education at 15.5 per cent. The socio-demographic breakdown of confidence in the involvement of consumer associations in formulating consumer protection policy on the European level 42 follows the same trend, with correspondences seen between the two questions. The EU average for believing that consumer associations are enough involved is 10.1% and for believing they should be more involved 47.8 per cent. The EU 15 average for don t know responses is 42.1 per cent, indicating a high degree of uncertainty for this point. Those groups which least believe that consumer associations are enough involved the unemployed (5.9%), women (8.7%), the lowest income bracket (8.8%) and the retired (8.8%). The high end of the scale is held by men (11.5%), students (11.9%), the self-employed (12.0%), those still studying (12.0%) and the second to lowest income bracket (12.1%). While education plays a role in terms of predicting response, neither age nor income has any impact. Those who are most uncertain, as expressed through a don t know response are women (45.7%), those with up to 15 years of education (46.3%), house persons (46.7%) and those in the non-euro zone (50.4%). The range of don t know responses is not particularly wide: the lowest don t know responses come from those in the next-to-highest income group (36.9%), the selfemployed (38.1%) and men (38.4%). The difference between men and women with men more confident than women is once again clear. 42 Q40b EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

51 The same groups are again sceptical as to whether consumer rights are sufficiently taken into account in other EU policy areas, such as agricultural policy, transport, energy, telecommunication and competition policy. 43 The most sceptical groups are the unemployed 25 Q41: Consumer Rights are Sufficiently Taken into Account in other EU Policy Areas, Male Female yrs yrs yrs 55+ yrs to 15 yrs educ yrs educ 20+ yrs educ still studying self-employed managers other white collars manual workers house person unemployed retired students Left Centre Right Rural area/vlg small or mid-size town Large town (--) (-) (+) (++) Euro zone DK, S, UK EU 15 (10.0%), those with up to 15 years of education (11.2%), house persons (12.0%), women (12.2%) and the retired (12.6%). The most optimistic are men (17.2%), those aged years (18.7%), managers (19.7%), students (21.5%) and those still studying (21.7%). In terms of don t know responses, managers (22.5%), those with more than 20 years of education (23.0%) and the self-employed (23.2%) had the lowest don t know responses, while women (32.9%), the retired (33.6%) and the non-euro zone (39.2%) had the highest. Education, age, and income again all have predictive value: decreasing age and increasing education and income lead to increasing belief that one s rights as a consumer are being taken sufficiently into account in other EU policy areas. 43 Q41 EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

52 Consumers and the Single European Market Opinions on the Impact of Single European Market on Products and Services For the most part, European consumers have neither overwhelmingly strong negative nor strong positive feelings about the impact of the Single European Market upon the choice, Q28: EU 15 Attitudes Towards Impact of Single European Market on choice of food products choice of non-food products choice of services price of food products price of non-food products quality of non-food products price of services quality of services % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know quality or prices of goods and services. Considerably more European consumers feel that the impact has been positive than feel that it has been negative, however, and the plurality feel that the Single European Market has had a fairly positive impact across the board (see figure above). Question 28 asked Europeans to rate the impact of the Single European Market on eight different aspects, noting, for each, whether there has been a very positive, a fairly positive, very negative or fairly negative impact, whether the Single European Market has had no effect or whether they don t know. 44 Of all the aspects, Europeans feel that the choice of food products has been the one to have been most positively affected by the Single European Market, with 13.1% of Europeans saying that it has had a very positive effect upon the choice of food products and 43.5% saying it has had a fairly positive effect. The Single European Market s impact upon choice of non-food products is the next most positively affected category according to Europeans. Some 10.8% say that the 44 See Q 28. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

53 Single European Market has had a very positive effect, while 41.4% say it has had a fairly positive effect. At the other end of the scale are the price of services and quality of services, which have been, according to Europeans, least positively impacted by the Single European Market, with 6.5% and 6.4%, respectively, saying that these have been very positively affected, and 30.4% and 36.1% saying they have been fairly positively affected. For all categories except one (choice of food products), the percentage of Europeans saying there has been no effect is higher than the percentage saying the impact has been very positive. The question of price seems to be the overall category about which Europeans feel most strongly, one way or another. The price of food products inspires the most responses of very negative (8.6%), yet also has quite a large percentage (fourth largest) saying very positive (7.9%). Likewise, price of non-food products has approximately the same percentage of responses in both categories (7.2% very positive and 7.1% very negative ). For the price of services, slightly more Europeans (7.4%) feel the impact has been very negative than very positive (6.5%). The categories of choice and quality do not evoke such strong responses; the fairly positive responses are much stronger. Choice of Food Products Going into more detail on choice of products, it is clear that this is the issue which most Europeans feel has been positively affected; some 13.1% of Europeans state that the Single European Market has had a very positive effect upon the choice of food products, while 3.4% say it has had a very negative effect. Some 17.0% of Europeans say that they do not know. Some 43.5% of Europeans say there has been a fairly positive effect, while 10.9% say there has been a fairly negative one. Overall, however, by far the most Europeans say that there has been a fairly positive impact upon the choice of food products (43.5%). Taking very positive and fairly positive responses together, the Dutch, Luxembourgers, Swedes and Belgians are the most convinced of the positive impact of the Single European Market on choice of food products. The most negative responses come from the Greeks, the Portuguese, French and Italians. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

54 Q28: Europeans' Attitudes Toward Impact of Single European Market on Choice of Food Products, 2003 I F P NL IRL UK TOTAL GR EU 15 DK FIN E L B D OST S D TOTAL D WEST A % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know For those respondents who are less positive, the response don t know seems more likely to be selected, rather than a negative response. In terms of don t know responses for this question, there is little variation, except in the case of the UK, where slightly over onequarter of the respondents chose this response. The United Kingdom is also the country with the lowest response for fairly positive. Choice of Non-Food Products For the choice of non-food products, the issue for which Europeans feel the Single European Market has had the second-most positive impact, the picture remains much the same, with 10.8% of Europeans saying that the Single European Market has had a very EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

55 Q 28: Europeans' Attitudes Toward Impact of Single European Market on Choice of Non-Food Products, 2003 I F P DK NL UK TOTAL EU 15 FIN GR IRL D OST D TOTAL D WEST E B S L A % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know positive impact upon the choice of non-food products, and another 41.4% saying that it has had a fairly positive impact. Nearly one-fifth (19.6%) do not know, while just 3.4% feel it has had a very negative impact and 11.9% say it has had a fairly negative impact. While the Swedes, Luxembourgers and Austrians believe most strongly that the Single European Market has had a very positive impact, the Luxembourgers, Dutch, Swedes and Belgians rank top for very positive and fairly positive response together. The least optimistic are the Greeks, Portuguese, French and the Irish. Indeed, the highest very negative response comes from the Portuguese, and the lowest from the Dutch. The largest don t know response again comes from the United Kingdom, which again has the lowest fairly positive responses. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

56 Choice of Services According to Europeans, the choice of services is the issue third-most positively affected by the Single European Market. Indeed, some 8.5% of Europeans believe there has been a very positive impact and 38.4% a fairly positive impact upon the choice of services. While nearly the same percentage of Europeans view this aspect as having been fairly negatively or very negatively affected by the Single European Market as they do for DK 4.1 Q 28: Europeans' Attitudes Toward Impact of Single European Market on the Choice of Services, F NL UK TOTAL I IRL P EU 15 D WEST D TOTAL FIN S D OST GR B A E L % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know the choice of non-food products (11.9% and 2.2%, respectively), some 14.6% feel there has been no effect. Among the eight aspects of the impact of the Single European Market, choice of services elicits the highest don t know response (23.3%). The Austrians, Spanish and Luxembourgers are the most enthusiastically positive, while the Luxembourgers, Dutch, Spaniards and Belgians are the overall most positive. The United Kingdom holds steady with EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

57 the lowest percentage of fairly positive, but Denmark has considerably less confidence as to the positive impact of the Single European Market on the choice of services than on other aspects: just 30.4% of Danes say that there has been a fairly positive, and only 4.1% a very positive impact, while a staggering 41.3% say they do not know. The Danes are above the EU 15 average for the previous two points discussed, while they are well below the EU 15 average here. The Greeks feel most strongly that there has been a very negative effect upon the choice of services, with 6.9% saying so. However, Greece is also among the top countries who feel most positively about the Single European Market s impact, with 11.4% giving a very positive response. Price of Food Products With respect to the impact of the Single European Market on the price of food products, as noted above, this is one point where Europeans, overall, feel particularly strongly: both the very positive (7.9%) and very negative (8.6%) responses are relatively high. The price of food products is also the aspect which Europeans feel has been most negatively affected by the impact of the Single European Market, with 31.1% of Europeans saying that it has either been very negatively or fairly negatively affected. The fairly positive responses are also lower (35.4% for EU 15), while the fairly negative responses are higher (22.5%). The don t know responses (15.4%) are the lowest for price of food products of all eight aspects of the impact of the Single European Market, as are the no effect responses (10.2%), clearly indicating a high interest among respondents on this aspect. The Luxembourgers, Spanish and Austrians are the most strongly positive, with the highest very positive responses, while the Luxembourgers, Finns and the Dutch are the most positive overall, taking both very positive and fairly positive responses into account. It is worth mentioning that there is a noticeable difference between Eastern Germany and Western Germany for very positive responses, although this difference does not carry over into other response categories. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

58 Q 28: Europeans' Attitudes Toward Impact of Single European Market on Price of Food Products, 2003 I F NL IRL D OST UK TOTAL P EU 15 DK FIN S B D TOTAL GR D WEST L E A % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know The Irish and the Greeks have the strongest negative feelings, with 19.9% and 18.1%, respectively, saying the Single European Market has had a very negative impact upon prices of food products. The Irish (30.2%), Italians (31.2%) and the British (31.5%) have the lowest rates for fairly positive, while the United Kingdom once again has, by far, the most don t know responses, with 25.1 per cent. Price of Non-food Products The price of non-food products is seen slightly more ambivalently, with 11.6% of Europeans saying there has been no effect and 17.7% saying they don t know. Approximately the same percentages of Europeans respond that the Single European Market has had a very positive (7.2%) or very negative (7.1%) impact upon the price of EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

59 non-food products. Just under half as many Europeans think there has been a fairly negative (19.2%) impact as think there has been a fairly positive impact (37.3%). Q 28: Europeans' Attitudes Toward Impact of Single European Market on Price of Non-Food Products, 2003 F I DK UK TOTAL D OST IRL P B FIN EU 15 NL D TOTAL S D WEST A GR E L % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know The Greeks, Spaniards and Luxembourgers are the three strongest (10.6%, 11.3% and 12.2%) respondents for very positive, while the Luxembourgers, Dutch and Finns are the most positive overall. Spain, in addition to having the second-highest percentage of very positive responses, also has the second-highest percentage of very negative responses, along with the lowest no effect (5.9%) response and one of the lowest don t know responses. Spaniards apparently feel strongly about this issue. The United Kingdom once again has the highest response rate of don t know and again the lowest for fairly positive (30.3%). A difference between Eastern and Western Germany is once again to be seen on very positive responses (6.2% and 8.4%, respectively). EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

60 Quality of Non-food Products On the question of the quality of non-food products 45.9% of Europeans feel either very or fairly positive about the impact of the Single European Market, 20.2% feel either very or fairly negative and 33.8% say either that there was no effect or that they don t know. FIN DK NL Q 28: Europeans' Attitudes Toward Impact of Single European Market on Quality of Non-Food Products, F D OST S D TOTAL UK TOTAL I D WEST B EU P IRL A L GR E % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know Luxembourgers, Greeks and Spaniards feel most strongly about the positive impact of the Single European Market, with 10.3%, 11.0% and 12.2% saying they believe there has been a very positive impact. With very positive and fairly positive taken together, the Luxembourgers, Spanish and Dutch are the three most positive groups of respondents. The United Kingdom has the highest don t know responses (27.8%) and second-lowest fairly positive, with 31.7 per cent. The very negative responses are quite low for this category, with Portugal (8.6%), Ireland (7.1%) and Greece (6.8%) having the highest response rates. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

61 Price of Services Europeans attitudes toward the impact of the Single European Market on the price of services, overall, are considerably less positive than toward other aspects. Some 6.5% of Europeans overall say that there has been a very positive impact on the price of services, while 34.7% say the impact has been fairly positive. More Europeans feel very negative, DK Q 28: Europeans' Attitudes Toward Impact of Single European Market on Price of Services, IRL I NL D WEST D TOTAL F D OST UK TOTAL S EU B FIN P L A GR E % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know at 7.4%, than feel very positive (6.5%), and slightly over one-fifth (21.9%) feel that the impact has been fairly negative. About as many (21.4%) don t know and 12.4% say there was no effect. The Austrians, Greeks and Spanish believe most strongly that the impact of the Single European Market on the price of services has been very positive, with 10.2%, 10.7% and 11.2%, respectively, saying so. The overall most positive respondents are from Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland. The Greeks, Irish and Spanish are, overall, the EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

62 most negative (having the highest fairly negative and very negative responses) although, at the same time, as noted above, Spain and Greece have, respectively, the highest and second-highest percentage of respondents saying there has been a very positive impact on the price of services. Quality of Services Although quality of services gets the lowest very positive ranking from Europeans, with just 6.4% saying so, some 36.1% of Europeans say that quality of services has been DK Q 28: Europeans' Attitudes Toward Impact of Single European Market on Quality of Services, D WEST D TOTAL FIN D OST S NL I UK TOTAL F B EU IRL P A L E GR % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Very positive (5.0) Fairly positive (4.0) Fairly negative (2.0) Very negative (1.0) No effect (3.0) Don't know fairly positively affected (total of 42.5%) while 3.9% say there has been a very negative impact and 14.9% a fairly negative (total of 18.8%). The responses for no effect are the highest of all aspects, at 15.9 per cent, while the don t know responses are secondhighest of all aspects, at 22.8 per cent. Luxembourg, Spain and Greece hold the three top spots for responses of very positive, with 10.4%, 12.2% and 12.2%, respectively. For very positive and fairly positive responses taken together, Luxembourg, Spain and the EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

63 Netherlands hold the three top positions. Portugal has the largest percentage of very negative responses at 8.2%, followed by Ireland and Greece, each with 6.5 per cent. This case again indicates that one distinction that should be noted is, in addition to the negative or positive responses, the presence of a strong opinion. Greece and Portugal fall into this category. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, has a very large portion of don t know responses (30.5%) and, indeed, never has less than one-quarter don t know responses for all of the aspects discussed here. Conclusion Overall, when those countries with the highest very positive responses on the different issues are brought together, as in the table below, 45 it is clear that there are certain trends on the basis of country. Austria, Luxembourg and Spain consistently believe that the Single European Market has had a stronger positive impact upon the various aspects than Q 28: Impact of Single European Market: National Trends choice of food products choice of non-food products choice of services price of food products price of non-food products quality of non-food products price of services quality of services most positive A A L A L E E GR DWEST L E E E GR GR E DTOTAL S A L GR L A L S B B DWEST A A L A DOST E GR GR DWEST IRL P P B DWEST DOST DTOTAL S P FIN IRL L DTOTAL S B DTOTAL EU15 B EU15 E DOST FIN S NL B EU15 B FIN IRL DTOTAL FIN EU15 DWEST S F DK GR DWEST DK FIN I UKTOTAL UKTOTAL EU15 FIN EU15 EU15 B UKTOTAL DOST I GR EU15 P P P DTOTAL F NL UKTOTAL UKTOTAL IRL UKTOTAL IRL S DTOTAL S IRL NL I DOST DOST DOST DWEST DOST NL DK UKTOTAL IRL UKTOTAL F NL FIN P P NL NL DK NL I DTOTAL F F F F I DK IRL DWE least positive I I DK I F FIN DK DK ST do Europeans overall. Respondents in the United Kingdom, Italy and France, on the other hand, feel less strongly than the European average that there has been a positive impact as a result of the Single European Market. 45 This table lists the rank order for each aspect, following the figures above. The ranking in the figures above was based on the percentage of those saying the Single European Market has had a very positive effect. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

64 For the remaining nine EU Member States, none is consistently above or below the EU 15 average. Germany, for instance, believes more strongly that the Single European Market has had a positive impact in five of the eight aspects discussed here, as does Sweden. Greece is more positive on seven of the eight aspects, falling slightly below the EU 15 average only on the issue of choice of food products. For Germany, in two cases (price of food products, price of non-food products), Western Germany believes more strongly than the European average that the Single European Market has had a positive impact upon prices, while East Germans believe more strongly than the European average that there has been a negative impact. When very positive and fairly positive responses are tallied together, as in the table below, a slightly different picture emerges, with Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland at the top, and Italy, France and the UK still at the bottom of the ranking. For the most part, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland are the top three for this ranking, but in the case of choice of food and of non-food products, Sweden replaces Finland; for choice of services, quality of non-food products and quality of services, Spain does so. (see table next page) EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

65 Q28: Impact of Single European Market on... choice of food products choice of non-food products choice of services price of food products price of non-food products quality of non-food products price of services quality of services L NL FIN E B S P D WEST D TOTAL D OST IRL A EU GR DK I F UK TOTAL percentage of those saying "very positive" or "fairly positive" Socio-demographic profiles Education and income both have a direct correspondence with to increased belief in the positive impact of the Single European Market. Higher income and higher education are both directly related to increasing belief in positive effects, when very positive and fairly positive results are taken together. The same does not appear to be the case for very positive results alone. When don t know results for income groups are studied, a tendency for lower income groups to answer don t know more often is seen. This tendency is not a clear progression, but is nonetheless present, with a variation of, at most, six per cent, between lowest and highest income groups, from about 25% as the highest overall to about 14 per cent. When respondents from different educational levels are studied, don t know levels appear to have approximately the same results, with respondents of lower educational levels having higher don t know responses, of about 25 per cent. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP

66 Q 28: "Very Positive" and "Fairly Positive" Responses on Impact of Single European Market by Income price of services quality of services price of food products price of non-food products quality of non-food products choice of services choice of non-food products choice of food products (--) (-) (+) (++) Q 28: "Very Positive" and "Fairly Positive" Responses on Impact of Single European Market by Education Level price of services price of food products price of non-food products quality of services choice of services quality of non-food products choice of non-food products choice of food products to 15 yrs educ yrs educ 20+ yrs educ still studying Overall, the impact of education and income is clear: higher education and higher income lead to more confidence in the impact of the Single European Market. With respect to occupation, in every case, students, for the most part, have the most positive impression of the Single European Market, followed by managers and other white collars. 46 For the question of quality of non-food products, the self-employed believe there has been the most positive impact by the Single European Market, followed by managers 46 Other white collars is used in the Eurobarometer survey to designate office workers not in mangerial positions. EUROPEAN OPINION RESEARCH GROUP