Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban. Hungary and Poland are facing EU fund freezes over rule of law violations Photo: European Union

Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban. Hungary and Poland are facing EU fund freezes over rule of law violations Photo: European Union

More than three quarters of people in Luxembourg think EU countries should not receive funds if they don’t implement rule of law and democratic principles, a survey published on Thursday has found.

A poll on the state of the European Union said 83% of people surveyed in the grand duchy agree that EU funding should be conditional. This compared to an EU-wide average of 81%.

Nearly all of the Luxembourg respondents (92%) also said that there should be transparency and control on how the NextGenerationEU funds are spent. But three quarters (74%) also agreed that the Luxembourg government can be trusted to spend the money properly. This compared to just 44% of people across the EU trusting their national governments.

Luxembourg under the NextGenerationEU scheme. Countries had to submit plans to the commission to be eligible to receive money from the EU’s €750bn pandemic recovery programme. At least 37% of spending must go to measures in support of climate objectives with another 20% earmarked for digitalisation initiatives.

The government will be financing measures in three areas: social cohesion and resilience, the green transition and digitalisation. Among the projects funded are affordable and sustainable housing, electric vehicle charging points and ultra-secure satellite communications infrastructure that aims to boost EU data sovereignty.

Happy with government

Luxembourg respondents were also happy with how the government has handled the roll-out of the covid-19 vaccine, with 79% saying they are satisfied with how national authorities have managed the vaccination strategy. This compared to just 39% saying they think the EU did a good job.

Across the EU, only 50% of respondents were satisfied with their government’s vaccine strategy, compared to 49% being satisfied with the EU’s performance.

But both in Luxembourg (63%) and across the EU (64%), nearly two thirds of respondents agreed that the EU played a key role in ensuring their country’s access to covid-19 vaccines.

While across the EU 67% of respondents said that getting vaccinated is a civic duty, only 62% of respondents in Luxembourg agreed with this statement. But around two thirds (65%) did agree that the digital covid-19 certificate is the safest means for travel in Europe during the pandemic.

Things going the wrong way

Looking ahead, the European Parliament should tackle climate change, poverty and the fight against terrorism and organised crime. These were the top three priorities listed by survey respondents from Luxembourg, followed by human rights, migration and asylum, job creation, public health, the future of Europe, democracy and the rule of law, and agricultural policy.

The outlook though was somewhat negative as 36% of Luxembourg respondents said that, in general, things are moving in the wrong direction in the grand duchy, compared to 33% saying they are moving in the right direction.

And Luxembourg respondents were even more pessimistic about the future of the EU, with 55% saying things are going in the wrong direction, compared to just 15% of people saying they are headed the right way.

Across EU member countries, the outlook was more nuanced, with 24% on average saying that things are going in the right direction and 37% saying they are heading in the wrong direction.