The survey on citizens’ awareness and perception of the European Union’s (EU) regional policy revealed that the average within the bloc regarding these issues stood at 23% and 49%, respectively.
Concerning investments in defense, particularly in industry, countries with the lowest percentage of support included Italy (12%), Bulgaria (13%), Hungary (14%), and Slovenia (14%), in contrast to Estonia (50%), Finland and Lithuania (46%), and Denmark and Sweden (41%). Another neighbor of Russia, Latvia, also recorded a high support percentage (40%).
The study indicates that half of the Portuguese population believes that cohesion policy should support all regions, not just the poorest ones (the average amongst the 27-member bloc was 64%), while 78% (with a European average of 79%) think that regional policy has positively impacted the development of their cities or regions.
The survey was conducted between April 22 and May 8, covering 25,737 interviews with European citizens aged 15 and over, including 1,009 in Portugal.
