It focuses on the perceptions and expectations Europeans have regarding the EU's action, the fight against terrorism and to the mutual defence clause.

It is published shortly after the British voted for withdrawal from the European Union.

High expectations regarding EU action

• Independently of how knowledgeable European citizens are about the powers and responsibilities of the EU, it seemed interesting to ask them about their perception of EU action in a number of areas and about what they expect of the EU. 
• Europeans feel that EU action is largely insufficient in most of the fifteen areas suggested to them, and that a massive majority of citizens would like the EU to intervene more than at present in these areas.
• Thus, on the issue of migration, for example, 66% consider EU action to be insufficient and 74% would like to see the EU take more action. Or on the protection of external borders, 61% consider EU action to be insufficient and 71% would like to see the EU take more action.
• These European results have to be put in perspective, though. Indeed, for the tested policies, national differences are important. Thus, to use the policies mentioned above, national variations reach 34 percentage points on the migration issue, and 39 points on the protection of external borders.

Almost three quarters of Europeans think that what brings them together is more important than what separates them.

• 74% of respondents think so, compared to 19% do not agree with that statement. This result has increased in 22 Member States, and exceeds 80% in 12 Member States.

Concerning AGRICULTURE:

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one of the EU's oldest policies, although it has been the subject of various reforms over the years. For more than five decades it has provided Europe with a secure food supply and a living countryside. There is thus a high level of public awareness of the support the EU provides to farmers, though a much lower proportion of the population know the details. Half of EU citizens would like to see stronger EU intervention in agriculture, although levels of support differ among Member States. Following the most recent CAP reforms in 2013, to which the European Parliament made a strong contribution, important changes were made to the CAP. These included a new system of direct payments whose basic component is support for farmers' income, as well as greater flexibility given to Member States. The budgetary resources devoted to the CAP have been reduced. The mid-term review planned for 2017 will offer an opportunity to review a range of policy implementation issues. The role of the European Parliament as co-legislator is significant in this process and in any future decisions on a post 2020 CAP.

See the full briefing: Briefing - Public expectations and EU policies - Agriculture

Source: europarl.europa.eu