Citizens of the European Union consider the worldwide protection of human rights should be the European Union’s top priority and Hungarians are just above the EU average in this respect, a recent survey by Eurobarometer showed.
On average, 48 percent of Europeans consider human rights to be the most important issue, while this ratio is 49 percent in Hungary. Freedom of speech came in as the second most important issue followed by equality between men and women.
With nearly six in ten Europeans (59 percent) in favor of their country’s EU membership, citizens’ support for the European Union remained high for the third consecutive year. The survey conducted in October 2019 also showed an increased level of satisfaction with the way democracy works in the European Union with 52 percent of Europeans sharing this sentiment.
The results indicate that the recent European elections and increased voter turnout likely had a positive contribution, with the survey showing a three percentage point increase from the previous one conducted in the spring of 2019.
European citizens would like to see the European Parliament playing a stronger role, with 58 percent of respondents calling for a more influential parliament in the future. This is an increase of 7 percentage points since spring 2019 and the highest result for this indicator since 2007.
In terms of what issues the European Parliament should address, respondents put climate change first, followed by air pollution, maritime pollution, deforestation, and the growing amount of waste.
Title image: The Parliament building in Budapest (source:tripsavvy.com)
