Flash Eurobarometer 446: The euro area

For this survey carried out on 17- 18 October 2016, some 17 500 respondents across the 19 euro area countries were interviewed by phone. The results show a downward return by five percentage points to the level of overall support for the euro in recent years. A euro area majority of 56% sees the euro as good for their own country. The highest increase in support compared with the 2015 results was noted in Ireland with a raise of six percentage points to 81%, followed by the Netherlands with a raise of four points. On the other hand, strongest decrease was noted in Lithuania by 13 percentage points to now 42%. A euro area majority of 67% sees the euro as good for the EU as a whole, a decrease by four percentage points compared to 2015. There are nevertheless some important differences between the 19 countries. Asked about economic policy coordination in the euro area, an overall majority of 67% thinks there should be more coordination while 10% think there should be less of it. An increase by three percentage points to 62% was noted in overall support for abolishing 1-cent and 2-cent coins combined with mandatory rounding of the final sum of purchases. However, majorities in Latvia (50%) and Portugal (48%) are not in favour of this proposal. Citizens replied to a set of questions focusing on issues ranging from perception and practical aspects of the euro to their assessment of the economic situation, policy and reforms in their country and in the euro area. In addition, citizens were asked about their views and expectations regarding household income and inflation.

The results by volumes are distributed as follows:

• Volume A: Countries
• Volume AA: Groups of countries
• Volume A' (AP): Trends
• Volume AA' (AAP): Trends of groups of countries
• Volume B: EU/socio-demographics
• Volume B' (BP) : Trends of EU/ socio-demographics
• Volume C: Country/socio-demographics

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  Researchers may also contact GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer