<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Spaniards believe that education and research are the areas on which the European Union should focus most, well above defense, which ranks fifth. In this regard, our country clearly differs from the EU as a whole, where defense and security are among the highest priorities.</strong></h4> According to the European Parliament's Eurobarometer Winter 2025 survey, published this Tuesday, 66% of EU citizens want the Union to take a greater role in protecting them from global crises and security risks. This opinion is particularly strong among younger respondents. Nationally, support for giving the EU a greater role ranges from 87% in Sweden to 47% in Romania and 44% in Poland. Furthermore, almost three-quarters of EU citizens (74%) believe their country has benefited from EU membership. This is the highest result ever recorded in a Eurobarometer survey since this question was first asked in 1983. In the current context, respondents cite the EU's contribution to peace and security (35%) as the main reason why membership is considered beneficial. Furthermore, there is broad consensus among EU citizens that Member States should act more unitedly to address current global challenges (89%) and that the Union needs more resources to address future challenges (76%). In the case of Spain, the study continues, 72% of citizens want the EU to play a more prominent role in global and security crises, six points above the Union average. 76% believe that Spain has benefited from being part of the EU, slightly higher than the European average (74%). Furthermore, a large majority of Spaniards, 93%, believe that Member States should act more unitedly to address current global challenges. 85% believe the Union needs more resources to address future challenges. In any case, while the contribution to peace and security is considered by the EU as a whole to be the main reason why membership is beneficial, Spaniards rank economic growth as the main benefit (39%). The second most valued benefit is the creation of job opportunities (27%), and peace and security is the third (26%). This difference in approach between Spain and the EU as a whole regarding defense and security is evident in the section on what the EU's priorities should be. In a rapidly evolving geopolitical environment, defense and security (36%), as well as competitiveness, the economy, and industry (32%), are identified by Europeans as the areas on which the EU should focus to strengthen its position in the world. In the case of Spain, however, education and research are considered the main areas on which the EU should focus to strengthen its position globally (40%). Defense and security, identified as the main area of concern across the EU as a whole, is ranked fifth in Spain, where only 20% of respondents mention it. Following this are competitiveness, the economy and industry (30%), food security and agriculture (26%), and EU values, including democracy and the protection of human rights (24%). Furthermore, a third of Spaniards believe their standard of living will decline in the next five years (33%), although 19% expect it to improve, five points more than in the EU as a whole. The survey was published almost a week after the presentation, during the last European Council in Brussels, of the White Paper on Defense and the first proposals of the Commission's plan to rearm Europe, and also after the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, committed to his European partners to increase spending on defense and security to two percent of GDP before the planned date of 2029. On March 12, the Prime Minister assured the Second Vice President and leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, that the increase in defense investment will not affect social spending. The European Parliament's Eurobarometer Winter 2025 survey was conducted between January 9 and February 4, 2025, in the 27 EU Member States. Interviews were conducted in person, supplemented by video interviews in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Malta, the Netherlands, and Sweden. In total, 26,354 interviews were conducted. The results at the European level are weighted according to the size of each country's population.
