Euro-barometer 37.0: Awareness and Importance of Maastricht and the Future of the European Community, March-April 1992 (ICPSR 9847)

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This round of Euro-Barometer surveys investigated the level of public support for the European Community (EC) and assessed attitudes toward European integration. Respondents were asked how well informed they felt about the EC, how supportive they were of efforts being made to unify Western Europe, whether their country had benefited from being an EC member, and how interested they were personally in EC matters. Other queries focused on respondent reaction to the European flag, the feeling of being a citizen of Europe both now and in the future, opinions relating to the speed of European unification, impressions of the work of the European Commission, and how well a list of statements corresponded to the respondent's hopes for the future of the EC. Respondents also judged which areas of policy should be decided by national governments and which by a central EC structure, and expressed their reactions to the Common Agricultural Policy, their expectations for the Single European Market and whether it should contain a social dimension, and their attitudes about the role and importance of the European Parliament. A number of questions focused specifically on the meeting and treaty produced in the Dutch town of Maastricht in December 1991. Respondents were queried about their knowledge of the gathering and its possible effects on the EC, on their own countries, and on their personal lives. Opinions were also sought on the desirability and positive and negative effects of certain countries joining the EC, and what the rights of citizens of other member countries should be when residing in the respondent's nation. Attitudes toward immigrants from nonmember countries were elicited as well. A set of questions focused on environmental problems, ecological concerns, and the priority assigned to economic development when assessing these issues. Respondents were asked to identify factors that caused serious damage to the environment, and to comment on what could be done to lessen pollution. They were also asked about the role of public bodies in protecting and informing the public about environmental concerns, sources of information about these concerns, and their hopes for the upcoming United Nations Conference for the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As in previous Euro-Barometers, questions on political party preference were posed, including which party respondents felt closest to, how they voted in their country's last general election, and how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow. Additional information was gathered on family income, number of people residing in the home, size of locality, home ownership, region of residence, occupation of the head of household, and the respondent's age, sex, occupation, education, religion, religiosity, subjective social class standing, socio-professional status, and left-right political self-placement.

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