Special Eurobarometer 328: Civil Protection

This report brings together the results of the Eurobarometer poll concerning public opinion about disaster management in the EU27 countries. This wave of the Eurobarometer was carried out between 11 September and 5 October 20091 in the 27 European Union Member States. Somer key findings are: • There is a remarkable degree of consensus (roughly 90% in each case) that the EU should do more to provide support for its member states in the various fields of disaster management. An overwhelming majority of European respondents surveyed (91%) believe that the EU should assist volunteer organisations in their respective countries. • There is a variety of reasons for people supporting EU involvement in their country when it comes to disaster management policy. Solidarity between countries is the most important reason given, while the view that coordinated action is better than individual action is in second place. Other respondents feel that it is because their governments do not have sufficient resources to deal with disasters effectively. • A vast majority of European residents (roughly 90% of respondents) surveyed felt that common measures (along similar lines to the Floods Directive already in force2) and standards (e.g. on the safety of buildings) should be adopted across Europe to deal with disasters. • A large majority (again, roughly 90%) of respondents support assisting neighbouring countries in Europe as well as countries elsewhere in the world that have been affected by disasters. • While there are considerable variations by country, flooding and violent storms are the two risks most widely feared by EU27 citizens as a whole. #####The results by volumes are distributed as follows: * Volume A: Countries * Volume AA: Groups of countries * Volume A' (AP): Trends * Volume AA' (AAP): Trends of groups of countries * Volume B: EU/socio-demographics * Volume B' (BP) : Trends of EU/ socio-demographics * Volume C: Country/socio-demographics ---- Researchers may also contact GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: [https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer](https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer)