United Europe has several concerns / Findings of the GfK survey, Challenges of Europe
Nuremberg, Germany (ots) - According to the GfK survey, "Challenges of Europe", unemployment remains the burning issue in Europe. This is one of the key findings of this year's survey conducted by GfK-Nürnberg e.V. However, a country comparison shows that there are clear discrepancies in some instances in terms of concern priorities, and the European countries all have their own problems to deal with.
With an average of 47 per cent, unemployment is by far the greatest worry among Europeans. As in previous years, the tense situation on the labour market is top of the list of concerns, with five out of the eight countries surveyed citing this as the situation requiring the most urgent action at national level.
For 77 per cent of all Germans and 73 per cent of all Poles, unemployment is by far the biggest concern in their respective countries. In these two countries, this issue exceeds the European average by a wider margin than in other countries. For years, other problems in Germany and Poland have been superseded by the alarming unemployment situation. However, whilst the problem in Poland is perceived to be less critical now than in previous years, concerns in Germany have increased since 2002.
In France (56 per cent), Italy (41 per cent) and Austria (40 per cent) too, unemployment is the undisputed leader in terms of agenda items requiring attention. However, concerns in these countries are lower than in Germany and Poland, and there is less of a margin between unemployment and the second most urgent topic in the respective countries.
Comparison of the challenges faced by Europeans in 2004
(open-ended answers; in %; rounded; multiple answers possible)
Total Germany France UK Italy NL Austria Poland Spain
Unemployment 47 77 56 5 41 16 40 73 34
Crime 17 7 26 22 22 42 4 5 12
Public
health
system 13 14 12 18 14 14 9 12 6
Foreign
policy/
asylum
issues 11 6 5 35 11 22 11 0 4
Price
hikes 11 9 20 4 20 15 6 10 6
Pension
concerns 10 20 9 4 11 0 29 3 5
Policy and
government 9 8 9 11 12 4 10 10 5
Safeguarding
social
benefits 8 13 20 4 2 3 14 2 2
Education
policy 8 6 9 16 6 9 4 2 5
Economic
stability/
upturn 7 16 4 1 8 7 6 5 3
ots Original Text Service: GfK Group
Internet: http://www.presseportal.de
Contact:
Dr. Ulrike Schöneberg
Tel. +49-911-395-2645