The majority of Europeans witnessed the impact of climate change on their surroundings during a hot, dry summer.  Guy Wolff/Maison Moderne

The majority of Europeans witnessed the impact of climate change on their surroundings during a hot, dry summer.  Guy Wolff/Maison Moderne

While the majority of EU citizens worry most about inflation, energy supply and the economic situation of their country, Luxembourg residents continue to be concerned about housing and the environment, the summer Eurobarometer has revealed.

Published on 6 September, the includes survey answers collected from 26,488 EU citizens across all member states between 17 June and 17 July 2022.

While it found that there is a generally increased trust towards the EU and an unwavering support towards Ukrainians six and a half months into the war, the energy crisis and accompanying inflation worried many. 64% judged that their national economy was doing bad though 70% considered that their personal financial situation was good. 

In Luxembourg, however, people were overwhelmingly confident in the country’s economy. While 59% acknowledged that the 85% were positive about the grand duchy’s economic well-being, 92% felt good about their personal financial situation.  

A bleak forecast for the coming 12 months

For many participants, the near future seems quite bleak, set to either remain the same as now or get worse. 40% of respondents across the EU think that employment rates in their own country would remain the same, while 35% expected things to get worse. In Luxembourg, a total of 79% thought it would stall or get worse. Many also expect their personal situation to remain relatively stable--57% for the EU and 69% for Luxembourg--but only 18% and 19% respectively thought their professional situation would improve in the next year.

Only 16% of Europeans and 11% of Luxembourgers were positive about the future of their country’s economy. 16% of Europeans felt that way about the EU too, but only 7% of Luxembourg respondents thought the grand duchy was going to do better.

Housing remains a priority for Luxembourg citizens

Europeans (34%) and Luxembourgers (35%) alike felt like the current energy crisis was the biggest challenge for the EU just now. Energy supply came second for EU participants (28%), but only third for Luxembourgers (26%), who felt the climate situation was more pressing (28%). Luxembourg, as the rest of Europe, has after all closely experienced the consequences of climate change during a summer that

But, when it came to their own governments, Europeans (54%) and Luxembourgers (55%) thought the biggest issue ahead was the rise in the cost of living. While various states have put forward aids in support of citizens, the rise in energy costs and ensuing price of food among others weighs on the majority’s mind. The housing crisis, pushed aside by the EU average (6%) remains a problem for 51% of the grand duchy’s survey participants.

Read also

Regardless of worries, both EU and Luxembourg respondents says they trust the EU more after the start of Russia’s invasion against the Ukraine than during the omicron wave in the winter of 2021/22, increasing respectively by 2 percentage points to 49% and in Luxembourg by 17 percentage points to 60%.

Grand duchy in favour of collaborative efforts

Following the trend generally observed in the survey answers, participants in the grand duchy were vastly in favour of common policies in the sectors of defence, energy and foreign affairs. The majority of EU members (57%) and Luxembourgers (54%) were also in favour of expanding the bloc in the future.

The EU in light of the war in Ukraine has , and is considering adding Georgia to the list too.