Security policy More than two-thirds of Finns consider the EU a good thing – support has clearly strengthened

Policy|Security policy

Finns support for the European Union has clearly strengthened over the last two years, says the European Parliament. According to a recent Eurobarometer, 69% of Finns consider the EU a good thing. The figure is up five percentage points from the last one.

The barometer collected in November – December shows that 72 per cent of Finns believe that Finland has benefited from EU membership. The increase from two years ago is three percentage points.

Only 10 percent of Finns think that the EU is not a good thing for Finland. However, less than a quarter are of the opinion that Finland has not benefited from the EU.

Across the EU, views are on average similar to those in Finland. The exception is that at EU level only 62% consider the Union to be a good thing. However, views on benefiting from the EU are at the same level as in Finland.

Finns would like the European Parliament to give priority to the fight against climate change, the EU’s defense and security, and the fight against terrorism and organized crime.

Instead, public health and the fight against poverty and social exclusion were at the forefront of the citizens of all 27 EU Member States. Combating climate change is third on the list.

The biggest differences arose in Finland’s and the EU’s response as a whole between public health and defense and security.

Finns do not see the European Parliament playing a very big role in promoting public health. Defense and security, on the other hand, are not key themes at EU level. This can be explained by the fact that most EU countries are members of NATO.

On value issues EU citizens consider the defense of democracy to be the most important task of the European Parliament, both in Finland and elsewhere.

The rule of law and human rights are also emerging in Finland.

Across the EU, democracy is followed by freedom of expression and thought and human rights. The fourth on the list is gender equality, which does not rise very high among the issues to be defended in Finland.