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

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 30 responsibility for the most relevant issues “pen- sions and pensions planning”, “health care”, “education” and “housing and rents” to the national level ( Chart 7 ). Attributing responsibility for these issues to the European level is less pro- nounced. Attribution to the European level is highest for “health care” (14 percent) and low- est for “housing and rents” (nine percent). The issue “unemployment” is attributed to the na- tional level as well. Apparently, citizens expect problem resolutions in these policy areas from national institutions rather than from the EU. Possible explanations for these interpretative patterns might be: – Doubting the EU being effective as a political institution and lacking realistic possibilities for action and problem resolution in the European context. – Perceiving the EU as an economic project, thus distrusting the motivation of the EU as a political institution. – Historically restrained socio-political agenda and lacking political competencies due to the principle of subsidiarity. – ����������������������������������������������� Attributing responsibility to the national lev- el might be acquired and habitual. How could a social Europe look like? Against this background, is there public support at all for specific measures to cope with the is- sue of social justice on the European level? There is widespread support for socio-political measures aimed at reducing social inequality in the European context. Three out of four (76 per cent) respondents support common minimum Chart 6. Relevance of policy areas Basic population: eligible voters in Germany, sample size: n = 2010 Source: YouGov 2018. 17% 12% 15% 20% 17% 23% 20% 21% 22% 32% 35% 44% 41% 40% 41% 52% 28% 33% 31% 27% 31% 27% 31% 33% 35% 26% 31% 29% 32% 37% 37% 31% 45% 45% 47% 48% 48% 49% 51% 54% 57% 58% 66% 73% 73% 77% 78% 83% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Foreign affairs and defence policy Economic growth Traffic and mobility Future of the EU National debts and taxes Integration of immigrants Internet and digitalization Unemployment Energy Immigration and refugees Protection of the environment and climate Protection against crime and terror Housing and rent Education Health care Pensions and pension planning Extremely important Very important How important do you think are the following issues and challenges for Germany? (Not at all important, Rather not important, Important, Don’t know is not shown)