95% of the Cypriots (89% in the EU) responded that Member States should act in unity to face current global challenges.
Education and research are preferred as a first political priority at European level by respondents in Cyprus (46%) in the European Parliament’s winter Eurobarometer for 2025, while the participant in the defense and security (36%) and competitiveness (32%).
“Europe has to stand up today, otherwise there is a risk of ignoring it tomorrow,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said in a written statement on the occasion of the investigation, commenting on the findings that want Europeans to demand a more important role for the EU.
‘The European Parliament will ensure that each Y
The proposal will be sufficiently bold and ambitious in the light of the serious level of threats that Europe is facing, “he said.
Among the findings for Cyprus stands out, among other things, that 83% of Cypriots believe that the Union should have a larger role in protecting citizens from global crises and security risks above the EU average (66%).
This view is particularly recorded between the younger respondents. At national level, the largest percentage of this question was recorded in Sweden (87%) and the lower in Romania (47%) and Poland (44%).
At the same time, 95% of Cypriots (89% in the EU) responded that Member States should act in unity to meet current global challenges.
The European Parliament’s winter Eurobarometer was held by the Verian Research Company between January 9 and February 4, 2025 in the 27 EU Member States, through personal interviews. The survey was carried out on January 9th with February 4 and a sample of 26,354 people in the EU, and the period 9 to 29 January and a sample of 502 people in Cyprus. EU results are weighted according to the size of the population in each country.
EU political priorities
Regarding the priorities that the EU should have, EU participants have brought defense and security (36%), as well as competitiveness, economics and industry (32%) to the top. Although the results for defense and security remained firmly compared to February/ March 2024, the percentage of those who chose competitiveness, economy and industry increased by five points. Energy independence (27%), food security and agriculture (25%), and education and research (23%) followed.
In Cyprus, respondents responded by 46% that the EU should focus on education and research, marginally over security and defense (45%). Following of food security and agriculture (26%), EU values including democracy and human rights (23%), and demography and immigration (19%).
Concerning the priorities that the European Parliament wants to set, at the EU level, citizens have brought inflation, price rise and costs (43%), followed by the defense and security of the EU (31%), the fight against poverty and social exclusion (31%).
Inflation, price rise and costs are a top priority in all age groups and with the highest rates being recorded in Portugal (57%), France (56%), Slovakia (56%), Croatia (54%) and Estonia (54%).
In Cyprus, in the first and second place of priorities (with a slight difference) are the fight against poverty and social exclusion (43%) and inflation and cost of living (42%). Following are public health support (37%) and immigration and asylum issues (35%).
As the previous EC survey showed, inflation and the cost of living had already played an important role as parameters in the last European elections, and the financial situation is still a major concern for many Europeans.
33% expect that their standard of living will be reduced in the next five years, seven more than June-June 2024. This applies to 53% of respondents in France (+8 percentage points) and 47% in Germany (+15 percentage points), while closer to the European average.
SOURCE: KEPE