Eurobarometer: European citizens support the NextGenerationEu Recovery plan. “Funds conditional on reforms”

The European citizens support the EU recovery plan known as NextGenerationEu. This has been found by a Eurobarometer survey that has been published today. “Seven respondents out of ten support the principle of solidarity of NextGenerationEu, with the member states committed to helping each other financially to get out of the Covid-19 pandemic stronger”, the European Commission claims in a release, commenting such figures. Respondents from Malta (85%) and Portugal (86%) are the most supportive. In addition, nearly two thirds of respondents believe that the funds provided to the EU member states through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (Rrf) i.e. NextGenerationEu “should be conditional on the implementation of the reforms and investments that have been agreed upon”. Respondents from Croatia (78%) and Cyprus (76%) are those most in favour. According to the respondents, the EU should mainly support “health (57%), energy and environmental matters (48%), employment and better working conditions (37%)”. 66% of respondents think that NextGenerationEu will have a favourable impact on the next generations: Polish people are the most positive, with 78%. For 61% of respondents, “the plan will lead to economic growth and job creation”. Lastly, three quarters of respondents support RePowerEu, a plan to achieve greater independence from Russian gas. The greatest support is provided by Romania (87%) and Portugal (91%).
Valentina Bombelli