European Citizens Research Articles

European Citizens’ Evaluation of the Common Agricultural Policy

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is crucial in ensuring food safety and security in Europe. Providing a stable and diverse food supply also supports rural economies and promotes social, environmental and economic sustainability. However, as CAP consumes approximately 30% of the EU budget, debates regarding its pertinence have arisen. This paper aimed to understand European citizens’ perceptions of CAP, its associated benefits and their level of agreement regarding the allocation of the EU budget. Ultimately, the goal was to gain insights into EU citizens’ attitudes and perceptions towards the CAP. Information and data come from the European Survey Eurobarometer. The methods include statistical inferential techniques adjusted to the nature of the variables and goals. The findings confirm that European citizens generally perceive the CAP positively and have positive attitudes about the CAP. While some differences among various social groups may exist, the results did not identify any specific group strongly opposing the CAP. Overall, European citizens hold a favorable attitude towards the CAP, its associated benefits and budget allocation. This paper brings new insights into new European CAP measures and programs to promote food security and the sustainability of agriculture among European countries and citizens. These insights may be useful for public decision-makers to define better policies and measures adjusted to European citizens and to promote food security and sustainability.

Solidarity on a divided continent: Perceptions of ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’ determine European citizens’ willingness to help other EU countries

This article argues that citizens structure their fiscal solidarity with other European Union countries along a ‘centre–periphery’ divide. This claim is empirically investigated using a Heckman probit selection model on two surveys in 2020 and 2021 among citizens of 13 European countries, which allows to account for differences in the familiarity of the issue and other countries. The results show that individuals in centre countries are more likely to express solidarity with other centre countries than with periphery countries, and vice versa. More broadly, the findings show that citizens perceive a power hierarchy among European Union member states, and that there is a spatial relational dimension to European fiscal solidarity. These results underscore the challenges facing the European Union in achieving greater fiscal solidarity. They also highlight the need to address the structural inequalities between member states.

The European Parliament as the voice of the European citizens? Examining the European Parliament’s role as a representative of the European citizens in the 2019 elections

The European Parliament is considered a solution to the democratic deficit because the citizens of the EU directly elect it. This article aims to examine the validity of this claim. Concerning representativeness, the focus is on the homogeneity of rules and procedures used for electing the members of the European Parliament (MEPs). This homogeneity is considered as necessary for the EP to represent the EU citizens. Thus, it aims to assess the impact of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union on the level of homogeneity of the rules used to conduct the 2019 European Parliament elections. This work claims that the European Parliament's role as representative of European Citizens is weakened by the consistent level of heterogeneity characterising the electoral rules used to elect it and that the withdrawal of the UK and the partial redistribution of seats simultaneously increased and decreased the level of homogeneity of the rules used to elect the MEPs.

Registration of apartments and office spaces in 3D land administration – A case study in Croatia

Due to the needs of modern society, cadastral systems should be designed to support three dimensional (3D) spatial data. One of many possible approaches for implementing a 3D cadastre, in countries such as Croatia, is to establish a Building Register as a transitional register between 2D and 3D cadastres, where data about buildings and infrastructure would be collected, gradually adapted to the data model of 3D cadastre, and finally migrated to the 3D cadastre database. Sources for establishing the Building Register can be based on the records of state surveys, the register of administrative units, the land book, data managed by local and regional self-government units, data from construction documentation according to special regulations in the field of spatial planning, data managed by the building and infrastructure managers, as well as from other sources. A significant element of the 3D cadastre would be the inclusion of representations of buildings and units of use, as well as public utility infrastructure and complex spatial real-life entities (e.g., bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, overlapping of constructed objects with natural facilities, large shopping malls with more underground and overhead floors etc.). This paper presents a conceptual model of a 3D cadastre in Croatia by establishing the Building Register with focus on unit of use of real properties, namely apartments and office spaces. The paper also summarizes the current situation regarding the Croatian Land Administration System (LAS) and proposes a conceptual model for modelling unit of use of real properties. Additionally, a proposal is made herein to assign unique identifiers to buildings and their parts in a logical manner which would be intuitive and clear to citizens of Croatia, citizens of European Union and citizens of Croatia neighboring countries. The proposed methodology of determining unique identifiers could provide the means for easier navigation in 3D space and better understanding of spatial information by lay citizens, by institutions or emergency services.

Artificial Intelligence, data protection and medical device regulations: squaring the circle with a historical perspective in Europe

PurposeThis manuscript presents a parallel among important EU legal frameworks, such as the Medical Device Regulations and General Data Protection Regulation and economic-historical challenges faced by European citizens. This parallel offers a prospective for understanding the direction taken by policymakers for forthcoming regulations, such as the European Health Data Space and the AI-Act.MethodThe paper describes key commonalities and differences among those regulations, which may help scholars working with AI in medicine, navigating this articulated legal framework.ResultsThe European Union journey started with the European Coal and Steel Community, enforced after the WWII for nurturing European physical reconstruction and as a mean for peacekeeping: without coil it was not possible to transform steel, and with shared control of steel it was not possible for individual member states to build war weapons.ConclusionsIn this century, modern coal are data and modern steel is the AI, which is a crucial enabler for European economy growth and competitiveness, and, potentially, a powerful war weapon. Ensuring a fair data-sharing and correct use of AI is crucial for sustainable development, peace, and democracy in Europe and beyond.

Reducing biomass burning is key to decrease PM2.5 exposure in European cities

Throughout the world, ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the environmental factor that poses the greatest risk to health and most European citizens continue to be exposed to PM2.5 levels well above World Health Organization guidelines. Here we present a comprehensive PM2.5 modelling-based source allocation assessment in 708 urban areas in Europe. The results show that urban cores, together with their commuting zones, contribute an average of 22% to urban PM2.5 concentrations levels. The residential sector is the highest source sector in 56% of cities. Its average contribution to PM2.5 formation is 27%, with a cluster of cities in Northern Italy and Eastern Europe contributing to more than 50%. Industry, agriculture and road transport show average contributions of 18%, 17% and 14%, respectively. Most emissions from residential sectors are anthropogenic primary PM2.5 which includes a condensable fraction. Furthermore, anthropogenic primary PM2.5 represents the precursor with the highest contribution in most cities (72%), contributing an average of 35% to urban PM2.5 levels. Emissions of anthropogenic primary PM2.5 by the residential sector are almost entirely (with exceptions of few countries) due to biomass burning. These results suggest that the residential sector should be a key target of any policy to improve air quality and that climate policies promoting biomass as a climate-neutral fuel could have a detrimental effect on air quality. A more integrated approach to climate and air quality policy design is desirable.

Regional crises and European fiscal preferences: how regional Covid-19, economic downturn, and migration shape support for EU risk sharing

ABSTRACT Economic suffering prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, coming on the heels of earlier 2008 global-financial and 2015 migration crises, revived debate on citizen support for European fiscal integration policies. Such support can be expected to reflect not only individual-level characteristics but also the extent of crisis exposure in subnational regional contexts where individuals live and work. Unfortunately, existing studies of public support have said little about such regional contexts. This study hence explores how regional-level experience with ‘polycrisis’ affects support for EU fiscal capacities, combining regional-level crisis measures with a 2020 survey experiment on European citizens’ preferences towards fiscal capacity instruments in 5 European countries (DE, ES, FR, IT, NL). This allows tests of whether individual support for various European fiscal capacities reflect regional differences in covid suffering, growth losses after the 2008 global financial crisis, and migration spikes from the 2015 migration crisis. We expect and find that citizens in regions more heavily impacted by the pandemic, financial crisis, and (albeit less so) migration crisis – measured separately and as a composite – tend to more readily support European fiscal integration capacity that is redistributive between countries, financed through progressive taxation, refrains from budgetary conditionality, and is lenient towards reform non-compliance.

English in Spain: Education, attitudes and native‐speakerism

AbstractSpain has traditionally featured rather low in the rankings measuring the knowledge of English by European citizens, and yet English has been constantly entering different areas of Spanish life and in all levels of education. This article delves into the efforts made at different levels of education to enable school graduates to communicate in English without difficulty. It focuses on how young people conceptualise English: their attitudes towards the language and to what extent they associate it with Inner Circle countries, or whether instead they see it as a tool for international communication. This discussion is complemented with an analysis of the pervasiveness of ‘native‐speakerism’ in Spanish society, which we claim acts as another handicap to the normalisation of the use of English as a lingua franca by Spanish citizens in multicultural settings within and outside the country.

Standing with Ukraine? How citizens trade off self-interest and principles in supporting war-torn international partners

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an attack on democracy, human rights, and the international order. While European democracies have supported their war-torn partner, Russia has sought to undermine public support by stopping its gas supply and imposing economic costs on European citizens. In consequence, Europeans find themselves caught between economic self-interest and principles. We present a theoretical argument and test how corresponding arguments for and against continued backing of Ukraine affect citizens’ support using experimental and observational data collected while concerns with gas shortage and inflation mounted in Germany and Denmark. We find that support for Ukraine does not falter due to economic concerns. In contrast, citizens become more supportive when presented with arguments related to human rights, democracy, and respect for territorial boundaries. We discuss implications for understanding citizens’ responses to autocratic power strategies and how support likely depends on the type of partner and domestic elite rhetoric.

The European Citizens’ Initiative “One of us”. A Gloss to the Judgment of the CJEU of 19 December 2019 in Case C-418/18 P. Puppinck and Others v. Commission

In December 2019, the Court of Justice issued a judgment in Case C-418/18 P. Puppinck and Others v. European Commission, ending a long-standing dispute between the organizers of the European Citizens’ Initiative “One of Us” and the EuropeanCommission. Ruling in the appeal proceedings, the CJEU dismissed in its entirety the application to set aside the judgment of the General Court of the European Union of 23 April 2018 in case T 561/14 One of Us and Others v. Commission. The “One of Us” organizing committee requested the repeal of the European Commission’s communication following the public initiative on the grounds that it lacked follow-up. The aim of the “One of Us” initiative was to strengthen the protection of dignity, the right to life and the integrity of every human being from conception in the EU’s areas of competence. The initiative proposed amendments to three legislative acts on research, humanitarian cooperation and their funding. The judgment under discussion is important for the interpretation of EU law in two areas. First, this is the first judgment that interprets the systemic position of the European Citizens’ Initiative in such a comprehensive manner. The case confirms that the ECI is an autonomous institution of EU law, whose systemic position is shaped by the principle of institutional balance and participatory democracy. The ECI is a form of emanation of deliberative democracy. Second, the judgment may be considered as confirming the exclusive competence of the Member States in the area of protecting human life at the prenatal stage. On the one hand, this means that EU law cannot impose its own standards on the right to life on Member States. On the other hand, in the area of its competences, it seems that the EU can have its own ethical position, allowing, while respecting the triple lock system, research involving the use of human embryonic stem cells and financing abortions as part of the package of medical assistance offered to the developing countries.

The Society of Information and the European Citizens' Perception of Climate Change: Natural or Anthropological Causes.

The scientific community has reached a consensus on humans' important role as causative agents of climate change; however, branches of society are still sceptical about this. Climate change is a key issue for humanity and only the commitment to change human attitudes and lifestyles, at the global level, can be effective in its mitigation. With this purpose, it is important to convey the right message and prevent misinformation to manipulate people's minds. The present study aims to understand the factors shaping European citizens' thoughts on the causes of climate change. Using data from the European Social Survey 10 collected in 2022, we fitted statistical models using the people's thoughts on causes of climate change (natural, anthropogenic or both) as dependent variables. As independent variables, we used the impact of the media through time spent on news and time spent on the internet, level of education, level of trust in scientists, awareness of online or mobile misinformation and gender. We concluded that the typical European citizen who believes in anthropogenic causes of climate change is a female, is more literate, trusts more in scientists, is younger, spends more time reading the news and has more awareness of misinformation presence in online and mobile communications.

Dynamic associations between frailty and cognition over 4 years: A population-based study on adults aged ≥50 from 12 European countries

PurposeThis study aimed (1) to investigate autoregressive and cross-lagged associations between frailty and cognition over 4 years in a large sample of European citizens aged ≥50 years, (2) to examine the 4-year temporal associations' differences between sex and between active and inactive physical behaviour, and (3) to explore in the years 2011, 2013, and 2015 associations between cognitive performance and the pre-frailty and frailty conditions. Materials and methodsThis longitudinal analysis was conducted with 20,857 individuals (11,540 women) from 12 countries aged ≥50 years who responded to waves 4, 5, and 6 of the SHARE project. The variables analysed were frailty (SHARE-FI) and a general cognition index (Cogindex) calculated for each wave from verbal fluency, immediate recall, and delayed recall. ResultsA greater propensity for cognitive impairment was found in women, as well as in pre-frail and frail individuals. There were no significant differences between the sexes for the autoregressive effect of frailty and Cogindex over 4 years. On the other hand, sedentary and active individuals differed in frailty between Time 1–2. Cross-lagged analyses indicated a significant difference for the sexes between frailty and Cogindex Time 1–3 and between Cogindex and frailty of Time 2–3. Sedentary and active differed significantly in the path of frailty on Cogindex between Time 2–3. ConclusionHealth policies should increase surveillance of frailty, cognition, and level of physical activity in the older European population, with a special focus on women.

Political culture and defence policy: a model of five-subtypes to explain the Spanish defence political culture

ABSTRACT European citizens’ attitudes towards defence are a fundamental element of common identity in the EU’s aim of becoming a unitary international actor. In Spain, since the early 2000s, the Spanish Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces have developed a public policy to promote defence culture to influence Spanish society’s views, perceptions, opinions, etc., towards defence and military policies. However, this approach is flawed because, despite being defined as part of the Spanish citizens’ political culture, these institutions reduce this concept to ‘knowledge’ or ‘awareness of its importance’. Therefore, the understanding of the Spanish defence political culture has been ill-analysed. Hence, a political culture related to defence issues can be best explained within the political culture framework, from which an ideal type, in the Weberian sense, can be established. Thus, based on previous studies, using survey data and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA & CFA), we test five sub-models to explain this political culture. This research is relevant to the study of the defence political culture because it reaffirms the existence of different cultural subtypes and civil–military relations and shows that the cultural gap in the convergence of values must be worked on in a segmented manner.

EU AI sovereignty: for whom, to what end, and to whose benefit?

ABSTRACT EU policy emphasises the need for digital sovereignty, also in artificial intelligence (AI). But because such ‘AI sovereignty’ could be used for diverse and even conflicting goals, it obscures the tensions that actual EU AI strategy entails. Conceptually, this article proposes three central trade-offs: first, does AI sovereignty pit the EU against other major AI powers, or rather citizens against large tech companies? Second, is AI sovereignty meant to boost the EU’s position in a putative AI race, or is it a means to defy this competitiveness-logic, instead? And third, is EU AI sovereignty primarily meant to benefit European citizens, or does it embrace a global responsibility? The empirical analysis then maps the EU Commission’s AI strategy since 2018 and the EU AI Act negotiations onto these three dimensions. It reveals that EU AI policy prioritises jurisdictional independence over citizens sovereignty, that it embraces a global AI race logic, and that it largely neglects its impact on people beyond the EU. This orientation of EU AI sovereignty resonates with and feeds into rising geo-economic tensions. But it would underestimate the importance of public policy to assume that it flowed naturally from technological transformations, rather than from political choices.

The Regional Economic Foundations of European Identity

Abstract The question of whether there is increasing social integration among EU citizens in Europe as a spill ‑over effect of the ongoing process of system integration, as expected by utilitarian perspectives on integration, has been discussed in many contri‑ butions so far. In particular, the question of how the economic strength and develop‑ ment of macro ‑units affects European social integration has gained new momentum after the 2004 enlargement, when economically weaker ECE countries became part of the EU. In this contribution, I focus on the impact of regional economic strength and development on European social integration. I analyse the relationship between the economic situation and development of NUTS‑1 regions and individual European identity using Eurobarometer data for the years 2004, 2010 and 2015. Using descrip‑ tive and multivariate quantitative approaches, I show that regional economic strength is weakly correlated with European identity, although not significant in multivariate models. However, citizens who believe that the EU is an economic advantage are more likely to identify as Europeans and are more prevalent in regions with higher economic growth. I conclude that convincing citizens of the economic benefits of EU membership could result in increased European social integration in the long run.

Implementation of Digital Health Ethics: A First Step with the Adoption of 16 European Ethical Principles for Digital Health.

The potential for technology to transform health care is tremendous, but advances in digital health may also bring privacy and data security challenges that may exacerbate inequalities. Hence, it is critical that the development of digital health is included in a framework of humanistic and ethical values. France drew up its roadmap for accelerating the shift towards digital health with ethics at the forefront, along with security and interoperability pillars. Criteria such as digital health for all, transparency of data processing, trustworthy AI, and eco-responsibility and sustainability of digital health were elaborated. Under the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, building on the proposal of ethical criteria from France, eHealth network representatives unanimously adopted 16 European ethical principles for digital health, formalizing trust commitments towards European citizens and paving the way for the European Health Data Space.

Not in my House: EU-citizenship among East-Central European Citizens: Comparative Analyses

Abstract The successes of right -wing populist parties in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as a repeated distancing from the European Union, raise the question of whether there is such a thing as European citizenship at all. Citizenship is not understood as formal nationality, but as a sense of belonging. This ties in with the considerations of political cultural research. This article uses representative surveys to address the question: What about European Citizenship in Central and Eastern Europe? The results show that the feeling of belonging to the European Union in Eastern and Central Europe is better than its reputation and not lower than in Western Europe. However, there are differences in the recognition of plurality between the majority (not all) of Eastern European states compared to the majority of Western European states. In particular, the integration of Muslims is more strongly rejected. The same applies to the social acceptance of homosexuality. This partly explains the success of right -wing populists in Central and Eastern Europe and marks a certain cultural difference, which is primarily directed against a wet model of democracy that is considered too open to plurality. In short: Central and Eastern Europeans also see themselves as Europeans and EU members, but their ideas of a European democracy differ from Western ideas – especially in peripheral regions.

NATO’S POSITION ON THE UKRAINIAN CRISIS AND ITS FUTURE (2014-2022)

The twenty-first century has brought new security challenges, some of which are taking place close to European borders, the most notable of which was the Russian attack on Ukraine, which challenged European political principles and basic values, and which came as a test of the strength of the European Union. The unity and power of the West, and it was a shock that made Europe wake up to threats that were possible and had actually been implemented. It had to respond and acknowledge that it was facing a military threat, and as a result the European Union had to strengthen its security and decided to strengthen cooperation with NATO Increasing the size of defense budgets is the way to do this. The European security strategy needed to be reviewed and updated, taking into account changes in the strategic environment, types of challenges, lack of resources, integration processes, and the positions of European citizens and decision-makers in Europe and the United States. Therefore, the European Union must seriously consider To the new challenges, the complex nature of security threats, the new political environment and the legal framework formulated after the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, In the new strategic concept of NATO in 2010, the problem of the Crimean Peninsula and its annexation to the Russian side demonstrated the importance of its strategic location, which made it the focus of an international crisis, and witnessed positions and interventions that amounted to a Russian-Ukrainian collision (the main parties to the crisis), with the presence of secondary driving parties. It has, largely like the United States and NATO, and the relationship between NATO, which was founded in 1949, and Ukraine, is one of the most important partnerships of the alliance. In 1994, Ukraine was the first country to join - after the Baltic states - the NATO Partnership for Peace, and in 1997 it was established The (NATO-Ukraine) Committee, under which Ukraine adopted non alignment, rejecting aspirations for NATO membership, but all that changed in 2014, after the Russian invasion and the Ukrainian Parliament rejected that status

Participatory soil citizen science: An unexploited resource for European soil research

AbstractSoils are key components of our ecosystems and provide 95%–99% of our food. This importance is reflected by an increase in participatory citizen science projects on soils. Citizen science is a participatory research method that actively involves and engages the public in scientific enquiry to generate new knowledge or understanding. Here, we review past and current citizen science projects on agricultural soils across Europe. We conducted a web‐based survey and described 24 reviewed European citizen science projects in the light of the 10 principles of citizen science and identified success factors for citizen science. Over 66% of the projects generated soil biodiversity data; 54% and 42% of the projects generated data on vegetation cover and soil organic carbon, respectively. Our findings show that soil citizen science projects aligned with the 10 principles of citizen science offer an unexploited resource for European soil health research. We conclude that promoting co‐creation, fostering knowledge‐sharing networks and enabling long‐term communication and commitment with citizens are success factors for further development of citizen science on soils.

Electoral Participation of Non‐National EU Citizens in France: The Case of the Nord

Since the 1993 Maastricht Treaty, EU citizens have the right to vote in European and local elections in the member state they reside in. In France, only about a quarter do so. Our article considers what factors explain the registration and participation of non-national citizens for the French Department of the Nord where around 35,000 non-French European citizens of voting age are living. Among them, 11,638 are registered to vote in the French municipal elections. Following the 2020 municipal elections, we have consulted the electoral rolls in each of the 648 communes to know who actually cast a vote. Based on detailed census data on each EU nationality and on other information contained on the electoral lists and rolls (age, gender, place of birth, etc.) and also contextual variables, this article seeks to identify the main factors associated with registering in the first instance and turning out to vote in the second. Our results confirm wide variation in registration and voting rates according to nationality. They also show that beyond voters’ nationality and the “usual suspects” of electoral participation, contextual factors are important predictors.