Published on Tuesday 19 December, the pan-European survey found that optimism for the future has gained ground in 18 member states, most notably in Cyprus (53%, +10%), Hungary (up 9% to 58%), Greece (+8% to 37%). But it has decreased in France and in Croatia.

Economic situation

Europeans are divided when evaluating the current situation of their national economy: 48% (+2% compared to spring 2017) consider it good, while 49% (-2%) describe it as bad. In Luxembourg, the positive perception of the national economy has decreased by 2% to 88% since spring.

In terms of expectations about economic prospects, both the proportions of those who think it will become better (27%) and those who are more pessimistic have increased (23%).

Policy priorities

The freedom to live, work, study and do business anywhere in the EU is the most important policy for EU residents (81%), followed by a common defence and security policy (75%), a common energy policy (72%) and a common policy on migration (69%).

Support for the euro is the highest since spring 2004, at 74%, and 21% are against it across the EU.  However, support for the European economic and monetary union has gone down remarkably in Luxembourg (-8% to 77%) since spring 2017.

The main concerns of Europeans are immigration (39%) and terrorism (38%). In Luxembourg, people are more concerned about terrorism (40%) than immigration, though the percentage is still very high (37%). 17% of Luxembourg residents are concerned about climate change. At national level, the most important issues that Luxembourg faces are unsurprisingly housing (56%), rising prices/the cost of living (21%) and the education system (20%). In fourth place comes immigration (19%).