EUROBAROMETER SPECIAL BUREAUX (2002) Italian Report / Executive Summary Survey carried out for the European Commission s Representation in ITALY «This document does not reflect the views of the European Commission. Any interpretations or opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors alone May 20, 2002
1. INFORMATION ABOUT EUROPE Between dominant television and growing Internet use, Italians would like to have more and better information about Europe. The poll confirms television as the dominant mass medium. Almost all Italians watch television, while 70% read one or more daily newspapers, 60% read other magazines and 70% listen to the radio. On television Italians usually watch news/current affairs (more than 85%), films (78%) and documentaries (some 40%). The single currency has become the most current issue regarding Europe: the Euro is the issue most covered according to more than 70% of those Italians who watch television or who read newspapers. Other issues are information about the EU Institutions and aims/objectives of the EU (20%) and about enlargement (some 17%). On television and in newspapers, Italians would like to find more information about the aims and objectives of the EU (55% on television and 60% on newspapers), enlargement (27% and 30%), how to find out more about the EU (more than 28%), and about the EU Institutions (24-27%), and even the Euro (25-29%). Italians usually look for information about the EU on television (more then 60%), followed by daily newspapers (more than 35%), discussions with other people (some 25%), other newspapers and magazines (15%), radio (some 13%) and Internet (some 12%). Clear evidence that Italians want more information than the EU average is that only 15% of Italians, against 25% of EU citizens, state that they have never searched for information about the EU. To get information about the European Union in future, Italians continue to prefer television (more than 60%), followed by newspapers (more than 30%), short leaflets (20%), Internet (more than 16%), radio (15%) and books entailing a complete description (some 15%). The most useful sources about the European Union are television (almost 80%), newspapers (47%), radio (23%), books, brochures and leaflets (more than 20%), Internet (some 20%) and other newspapers and magazines (some 20%). But what opinions do Italians have about information offered by television and newspapers? Among those who consider television to be a useful source of information, almost half think that the news is fairly informative and objective while some 30% think that the news is not very or not at all informative or objective (according more than 50% of them, such news is favourable towards the EU). Some 12% say that it depends on the programme. Among those who consider newspapers to be a useful source of information, more than half think that the news is fairly informative and objective while some 25% think that the news is not very or not at all informative or objective (according to more than 50% of them, such news is favourable towards the EU). Some 11% say that it depends on the newspaper. EU information services are definitely not very well known and little used, both in Italy and in Europe: more than 75% of Italians have never heard about these services. Among
the 16% of those who had heard about these services, only a small minority has ever requested any information from them. Almost all Italians declared that they have never asked for information directly from one of the EU Institutions or that they did not know that they could do so. In both cases, Italians are more keen to contact an information system in Italy or an EU Institution in future. Italians wish to give suggestions to the EU mainly via e-mail/internet (26%), letters or faxes (some 20%), telephone (more than 16%), by participating in meetings (some 15%). Relative to the EU average, Italians seem to prefer e-mail/internet and participation in meetings. Generally speaking, Italians seem to be more interested in the specific European domains than the EU average. Main interests are my rights as a citizen of the EU (almost 90%), what the EU can do to fight against crime, aims and objectives of the EU, what EU can do to fight unemployment, the EU health policy, what EU can do to protect the environment and the food safety in the EU (all more than 80%). Italians show a bigger interest in receiving information about all the issues mentioned than the EU average. More than 50% of Italians do not want more information about origins and history of the EU, transport policy, the Treaties of the EU, policy towards asylum seekers in the EU. Such results are similar to the European ones. If we now look at the statistics concerning the use of the Internet, we find that the majority of Italians (65%) do not use the Internet. People use the Internet mainly at home (25%) and at work (more than 10%). The EU averages are similar. As far as Europe is concerned, Italians using the Internet are interested in getting information about the EU (more than 50%) and in discussion forums / chatrooms where they can give their opinions (more than 30%). Again, interest showed by Italians is higher than the interest showed by the EU average: only 9% of Italians is not interested against 20% of the EU average. Europa, the website of the EU is almost unknown to the large majority of Italians. Ninety percent of Italians using the Internet have never visited this site. The minority who visit Europa usually visit this website for personal interest and not regularly. Again, we face a similar situation as at the average EU level. On the website Europa, Italians using the Internet would like to find information about citizens rights (more than 60%), general information on EU Institutions (more than 40%), general information on EU activities (40%), key issues (24%) and official documents (20%). Italians show a certain preference for general rather than specific information. More than 35% of Italians take the use of the Internet into account in order to have a discussion with EU decision-makers (against 45% who would not use Internet and 18% who don t know). The question on the respondent s interest in being informed about what people in other EU countries think about the future of Europe receives two strongly polarised sets of
answers: almost 50% of the Italians are interested against 45% who are not. This question produced similar results in 2001. Italians interested in other EU citizens opinions would like to be informed via television (some 70%), daily newspapers (some 40%), the Internet in Italian (more than 30%), meetings with other EU citizens (more than 20%) and radio (some 15%). Compared to the 2001 results, the Internet and meetings receive a higher vote. Again, the interest in being informed about what people in candidate countries think about the future of Europe receives two strongly opposed sets of answers: 50% of the Italians are interested against 45% who are not. The great majority of the Italians (almost 70%) think politicians of other EU countries should express their opinion more often via Italian mass media (but the interest shown is less than in 2001). The great majority of Italians are interested in knowing the contents of the national Constitution (more than 70%) and of the EU Treaties (some 65%), clearly more than the EU average in both cases. Some half of the Italians are not very interested in the positive or negative aspects of the EU, but more Italians think that the EU has positive aspects compared to the EU average. Summing the results of two possible choices, the most positive aspects of the EU are the Euro, (more than 60%), the free movement of people for travelling, (more than 20%) and the economic growth (some 20%). On the other hand, the majority of Italians do not express negative aspects. The most negative aspects are the loss of national identity, the end of the national currency and difficulties with the Euro (some 12%, summing the results of the two choices). 2. Enlargement Italians are now even more in favour of enlargement, in spite of the lack of information about it The Italians knowledge of candidate countries has improved since last year. The great majority has heard more about all candidate countries than in 2001. The best known candidates are Romania, Turkey, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria while the least known are the Baltic republics. The direct knowledge of candidate countries is lower among Italians than the EU average: more than 70% of Italians have never visited a candidate country against some 63% at EU level. The most visited countries by Italians are Slovenia (12,8%), Hungary (8,5%), Czech Republic (7,5%), Turkey (7,3%) and Malta (6,3%). However, Italians have travelled more than in the previous year to most of the candidate countries. As far as future travel is concerned, Italians show more interest in candidate countries than in 2001, even if almost 60% confirm no interest. The most preferred countries are Malta (14,4%), Turkey (12,9%), Cyprus (10,9%) and Hungary (9,4%).
Italians family ties, business and other contacts with candidate countries remain minor: more than 95% have no relationship against 91,2% of EU citizens. Italians have connections with Slovenia (1,5%), Poland (1,2%), Turkey (1%), Romania and Czech Republic (0,9%). Italians would like to obtain more information mainly about Turkey and Malta (more than 20%), Hungary, Cyprus, Poland, Romania and Czech Republic (19-15%), followed by Bulgaria, Slovenia, Baltic republics and Slovakia (10-7%). Italians are particularly interested in tourism, culture and history of the candidate countries, and generally more than the EU average. But some 40% of Italians would not like to have more information about candidate countries. Compared to 25% from the 2001 results, the Italian average has decreased closer to the EU one. The majority of Italians are interested in spending holidays in candidate countries, especially in Malta, Cyprus and Turkey (25-30%), Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland (10-15%) Romania, Slovenia and Bulgaria (7-9%). On the other side, 28% of Italians are not interested in tourism in candidate countries. Some 10% of Italians are interested in working, living, or studying in a candidate country against 80% who are not interested and 10% who don t know. Italians interest go mainly to Malta, Czech Republic, Cyprus and Turkey. The Italian distribution is similar to the EU one. Some 12% of Italians are interested in having business contacts in a candidate country against more than 70% who don t want to and 15% who don t know. The most interesting countries for business relationships are Malta and Czech Republic (around 4%), Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Romania (around 3%). Again the Italian distribution is similar to the EU one. The Italians level of information about the Candidate countries remains lower than the EU average even if it has significantly risen compared to last year. The proportion of Italians who don t know which are the candidate countries has fallen from 52,7% in 2001 to 38,1% in 2002. The most known candidacies are those of Poland, Turkey, Hungary, Czech Republic and Romania (more than 20%), followed by Slovenia, Bulgaria, Malta, Cyprus and Slovakia (between 10 and 20%). Less known candidacies are those of the Baltic Republics (some 6%). The majority of Italians feels that they are not well informed about enlargement (50%) or even not at all informed (37,5%), compared to only 8% who say they are well informed. Compared to 2001, there is a clear fall in the perception of being well informed among Italians. The Italian distribution shows slightly lower values than the EU average. More than 60% of Italians state they have not recently read, seen or been told about enlargement, 20% have received information from television, 15% from daily newspapers and 5,5% from discussion with other people. Italians seem to be significantly less informed about enlargement than the EU average by all the different media. The most preferred sources of information about enlargement are television (almost 70%), daily newspapers (some 45%), other newspaper and magazines, Internet and radio (around 20%). Generally speaking, Italians don t feel to that they are much involved in the political debate about enlargement: more than 80% of Italians state this against 12,5% who feel
that they are somewhat involved. But at EU level, the percentage of people who feel not very much or not at all involved is higher. Italians show an attitude more in favour of enlargement than the EU average. More than 70% of Italians are in favour of enlargement to include some or all of the candidate countries. Only about 7% of Italians are against any enlargement (to be compared to 14% at European level). It must also be noticed that the proportion of Italians against enlargement is half the percentage of last year. More than 35% of Italians don t know which EU countries will benefit from enlargement, while 17,6% of Italians think that all EU countries will benefit. Almost 16,5% think that Germany will be the main beneficiary from enlargement and 5,6% think Italy as well could benefit from enlargement, especially because they are powerful countries in the EU and because their economies will benefit. The impact of enlargement on their personal situation is considered to be more or less neutral by more than 60% of Italians while 18% say their personal situation will improve and 6% think it will get worse. Compared to 2001, the negative perception is lower and uncertainty rises from 7,2% to 12,5%. In any case, Italians feel more optimistic about the impact of enlargement on their personal life than the EU average. Italians think their daily life will be better because there will be better economic prospects in a bigger market, there will be better employment prospects and cultural life will be richer and more varied. On the other hand, Italians think their daily life will get worse because there will be more unemployment, more drug trafficking and more organised crime. Apart from the common fear of higher unemployment, Italians seem to be more worried by criminality, while the EU average seems to be more worried by economic consequences. Italians think that the impact of enlargement on the different economic sectors (industrial, financial, trade, agricultural, tourism, transportation and other sectors) will be positive or, at least neutral. Italians appear generally to be more positive about the impact of enlargement on the economy than the EU average. The process of new countries joining the EU should stay as it is for 37,5% of Italians and even speed up for more than 30%. Only 6,7% of Italians (against 14,7% of the EU average) think that the enlargement process should be slowed down. Italians are more convinced that the present speed of the enlargement process is good. In 2001 they were more in favour of acceleration while the percentage of those who are against the enlargement has remained stable. What is important in deciding if a candidate country is ready to join the EU? Most Italians think that this country must respect human rights and the principles of democracy and must be actively committed to fighting organised crime and drug trafficking (more than 80%), protecting the environment and it has to apply all EU rules (between 75 and 80%). The results of the 2002 poll confirm the results of the 2001 poll. The great majority of Italians agree that enlargement unites our continent and will make EU stronger politically (more than 70%), will favour economic growth and secure peace in Europe (more than 60%). What will be the consequences of enlargement for the economy and for personal life? Most of the Italians, but also most of the EU citizens, agree that it will be easier for citizens of other EU countries to settle in Italy (75% of Italians), there will be a greater
variety of products in the shops (69%) and companies in Italy will benefit from enlargement (55%). Italians, like the EU average, tend to disagree that the EU will be stronger than the USA. What about immigration? Some 45% of Italians think that EU enlargement will provoke a significant number of people to move from new member states to Italy while some 30% of Italians think that the number of immigrants will be limited and some 25% don t know. The estimate of potential immigration made by Italians is more or less similar to the EU average. The results show that Italians consider the impact of immigration to be less negative than the EU average. The main Italian fear is the rise in crime while the EU average seems to be more worried about the rise in unemployment. Italians who think that immigration will be significant but positive state that there must be equal opportunities for all, it will be good for Italy s tourism development and it will be good for Italy s economy. Italians quantitative estimation and evaluation of immigration have changed since 2001. In fact, in 2002, the feeling that there will be significant immigration prevails while in 2001 the opinion was that immigration would be limited. Moreover the percentage of Italians who have a negative opinion about immigration is considerably lower (from 80,3% to 55,9%) while the percentage of those who have a positive opinion is higher (from 19,7% to 29%). Almost half of Italians thinks that enlargement will not lead to a significant rise in commuters from new member states. The impact of commuters is considered more positively by Italians than by citizens from the average EU border group (Germany, Italy, Austria, Finland and Sweden) since it will bring different know-how, new competencies and new ideas in Italy and it will be good for the economies of new member states. On the other hand, the main worry related to the rise of commuting is fewer jobs for Italians. 3. THE EU FROM A SOCIO-POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE Italians perception of pro-eu attitudes, political reality, and lack of information. Italians feel more attached to the different levels of administrative-territorial communities (City/town/village, Region, Country, European Union), than the EU average. More than 90% of Italians feel very or fairly attached to their City/town/village, Region and Country. As far attachment to the EU is concerned, almost 60% of Italians feel very or fairly attached against some 55% of EU citizens who feel not very or not at all attached. Who should be responsible for communication about the EU and its activities? Italians think that the Italian government (50%) and the EU Institutions (more than 40%) should be responsible. Some responsibility is also given to the mass media (30%), to MEPs (more than 20%) and to regional and local authorities (20%). Comparing Italians answers to the EU average, it can be noted that Italians give more responsibilities to EU Institutions and less to the other stakeholders.
The large majority of Italians give a more positive evaluation of the present and future EU action than the EU average in many activity sectors. Italians think that the EU should act first to maintain peace and security in Europe, to fight unemployment, to fight organised crime and drug trafficking and to fight poverty and social exclusion. These sectors of activity are largely considered as a priority, with agreement rates of 90% or more. But Italians consider the other sectors mentioned to be priorities as well (guaranteeing the rights of the individual and respect for the principles of democracy in Europe, successfully implementing the Euro, getting closer to EU citizens, protecting the environment, guaranteeing the quality of food products, protecting consumers, fighting against illegal immigration, supporting economic growth, asserting the international political and diplomatic importance of EU). Some doubts arise about whether reforming the EU Institutions can be considered a priority while welcoming new member countries is the only activity not considered to be a priority by Italians. The priorities ranking indicated by Italians is almost identical to the ranking expressed by the EU average. When it comes to defending the interests of Italy, 70% of Italians think that Italy s membership of EU is an advantage (major for 37,5% and slight for 32,6%), while 10% think that it is neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. Only 7% of Italians think that Italy s membership is a disadvantage. The same opinion is expressed by the EU average, but, at EU level, the rate of people stating EU membership being a slight advantage is higher than the rate of people stating a major advantage. When asked about how favourable are you towards EU? Italians score is the highest among all the EU countries. More than half of Italians think that decisions taken jointly in the EU are generally good for Italy, while some 30% answers it depends, and only 4% state they are generally bad. As far as the influence of the EU decisions on citizens personally is concerned, 37,6% of Italians state that it depends, 33,7% think that decisions are generally good and only 5% think that EU decisions are generally bad. In both cases, Italians seem to appreciate the EU joint defence of national and personal interests more than the EU average. Today, the EU is going in the right direction for 40% of Italians while 20% think sometimes in the right direction, sometimes in the wrong direction and 13,4% neither right or wrong. Italians think that Italy has an influence on decisions made within the EU more than other EU citizens think considering the influence of their own country (it must be noticed that the same occurs in France and Germany). Italians, like the EU average, think that citizens have little influence, very little influence or no influence at all on decisions made within the EU. Only some 10% of Italians think that people have a major influence. Italians tend to agree that the biggest countries have most power in the EU (but less than the EU average), that Italy s voice counts in Europe (less than other EU citizens think for their own country), that Italy is more influential in the EU now than ten years ago and
that Italy will become more influential in the EU in the future (more than other EU citizens think for their own country). Italians tend to disagree that their individual voice counts in the EU (far more than in any other country), that they understand how the EU works, that decisions taken in Brussels don t affect them (all similar to the EU average). It is worth noticing that Italians tend to disagree that most of the laws which affect me are made in Brussels these days while the EU average tends to agree. Who has most influence on decision making in Brussels? Italians, like the EU average, think that the European Parliament has most influence (first choice), followed by the European Commission (second choice) and the national Governments (third choice). If we sum up the results of the three choices, the most powerful groups in decision making in Brussels are the European Parliament (76% for Italians and 70% for EU citizens) and the national Governments (76% for Italians and 68,5% for EU citizens), followed by the European Commission (73% for Italians and 67% for EU citizens). Business and lobbies are also considered as influential groups, by Italians (18% and 15%) and EU citizens (24% and 15%). Italians think that the countries having most influence within EU are Germany (more than 75%), France (almost 70%), United Kingdom (almost 40%) and Italy (more than 20%). Italians think that the countries having the least influence are Greece and Portugal, followed by Ireland and Finland.