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

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 26 In the autumn of 2018, the German public was divided regarding whether the membership in the EU is rather advantageous or disadvant- ageous for Germany ( Chart 1 ). The share of citi- zens who think that the advantages of the German EU membership prevail is almost equal to the share of those who think the disadvan- tages prevail. Forty percent of Germans think that advantages and disadvantages are bal- anced. However, respondents from low-income classes evaluate the German membership in the EU as more disadvantageous as those from mid- dle and high-income classes. Citizens perceive the EU member states as dis- parate regarding their economic performance as well as their living standards and living conditions ( Chart 2 ). Cultural differences are perceived to a lower extent. The more respondents perceive EU member states as different considering their living standards and living conditions, the more they evaluate the German membership in the EU as disadvantageous. This coherence may serve as an indicator for social issues being linked to the atti- tude towards the EU. Citizens evaluate the differences between the EU member states as challenging. Three out of four citizens agree to the statement that most of the problems of the EU are caused by the economic and social differences between the EU member states. Moreover, there is a strong awareness of interdependency between the EU member states ( Chart 3 ). Almost four out of five citizens agree to the statement that it is bad for Germany in the long run, if the other EU member states are not doing well economically. A great share of citizens thinks the EU is at least partly dysfunctional. Only one fifth thinks that the EU is working the way it should all in all ( Chart 4 ). In contrast, two thirds express their demand for changing the EU: 46 percent agree to the statement that the EU works badly, yet might be fixed with some changes. At least 20 percent express their wish for changing the EU radically. The EU has a deficiency regarding justice If citizens are asked which values they currently associate with the EU, they attribute “justice” and “equal living conditions/livelihood opportu- nities” to a relatively low extent (13 percent in each case) ( Chart 5 ). This finding is even more impressive against the results of the questions for which values the EU does not stand for. Almost one out of three citizens (30 percent) thinks that the EU does not stand for “equal living conditions/livelihood opportunities”. For another 20 percent the EU does not stand for “justice”. Citizens do think that this is a defi- ciency: one-third (33 percent) states that the EU should stand for “justice” to a higher extent. Only “protection against crime and terror” and “stability and reliability” show comparable fig- ures. One fourth thinks that the EU should stand for “equal living conditions/livelihood opportu- nities” to a higher extent. The gap between attributed values and de- manded values shows clearly that citizens per- ceive a deficiency regarding justice. This gap is very pronounced regarding four issues in par- ticular: 1) “justice” (20 percentage points gap); 2) “protection against crime and terror” (18 percentage points gap); 3) “equal living condi- tions/livelihood opportunities” (15 percentage points gap) and “stability and reliability” (nine percentage points gap). Apparently, there is a deficiency regarding social and distributional is- sues that the EU is currently not able to address.