The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

A EUROPE THAT PROTECTS SPANIARDS 133 relevance in the context of Europe’s transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources. The majority of the participants in this survey (59.7%) thought that EU Member States are not doing enough to achieve environmental ob- jectives and only 14.1% thought that sufficient measures are being implemented. Moreover, an overwhelming majority (85.8%) were in favour of the EU sanctioning Member States failing to comply with environmental regulations and up to 71.8% believe the EU should develop tighter regulations that would restrict the use of motor vehicles. Regarding the prospects for renewable energy, 61.8% of the people participating in the survey believed that Europe could cover all of its energy needs by means of clean energy sources. The overall results of this section of the study indicate that the Spanish public is extremely conscious of the need to protect the environ- ment and open to the EU developing ambitious policies to this end. Conclusions Despite the decline of Europeanist sentiment in Spain following the outbreak of the 2008 eco- nomic crisis and the widespread feeling that the Union did not do enough to protect its citizens from the impact of that event, Spaniards are nevertheless open to a wide range of EU initia- tives that would foster deeper integration among Member States. The policy issues ad- dressed in this study span a wide range of top- ics, from the creation of new supranational bod- ies to the harmonisation of diverse types of citizen rights. Responses to questions posed concerning every policy area covered neverthe- less share a common denominator: clear sup- port in Spain for greater implication on the part of EU institutions in spheres of policy directly related to the protection and welfare of European citizens. Generally speaking, Spaniards would appear to be in favour of granting the EU The current level of coordination between European police forces and EU security services is adequate. There should be a European police corps composed of law enforcement personnel from every EU country capable of carrying out actions in all member States. The EU should create a European army composed of military personnel from every Member State to protect Europe from external threats. Strongly agree   Somewhat agree   Neither agree nor disagree   Somewhat disagree   Strongly disagree   DK/NA 11.4 5.4 6.0 16.4 3.9 8.8 23.2 4.6 7.1 18.8 14.1 19.1 25.2 29.3 24.8 5.1 42.6 34.3 Chart 4. Support for EU-level security initiatives