Report: Eurobarometer 64.2 - Attitudes towards Energy

Download the report (561 Kb PDF) | Eurobarometer Website

After the oil crisis of 1973 and 1979, energy policy could count on regular supplies and relatively stable prices. The situation has recently become extremely different with a much tighter energy market and significantly higher and more volatile prices. The Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs declared in a Speech given in the 16th meeting of the Energy Charter Conference, Brussels, 9 December 2005: "The external dimension of the European Union's Energy Policy" that "under our business as usual scenario, almost 70% of the Energy the European Union uses will be imported by 2030. Energy demand will rise by 1% to 2% per year and the share of fossil fuels in our energy supply could rise to almost 90% substantially increasing greenhouse emissions."

The European Commission aims to respond to these challenges by following some essential steps:

1. Tackling rising energy demand by making energy efficiency a central plank of the Commission's economic and sustainable development policies
2. Increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix
3. Making Europe's energy supply more sustainable by limiting the rise in the EU's dependence on imports
4. Making the use of fossil fuels more clean and efficient

In this context the role of consumers is essential. On the 18th of July 2005, the European Commission launched a four-year campaign to raise public awareness on sustainable energy. This action was set to contribute to meeting EU energy policy aimed at facing new challenges most notably those which were outlined in the 2005 Green Paper on Energy Efficiency.

With this in mind, the European Commission launched this Eurobarometer survey (EB64) on Energy in the 25 Member States as well as the acceding and candidate countries ( on a sample of 29.430 interviewees.

This survey deals with the following themes:

• The most appropriate level to make decisions in order to respond to the new energy challenges
• Public authorities and Government priorities in order to reduce energy consumption and limit the rise of the European Union's dependency on imported energy sources
• Energy consumption habits and willingness to change them

This report presents the main results obtained. For each of these themes, the results are analysed in terms of the European average and then assessed at the country level. external dimension of the European Union's Energy Policy. Also, some brief comments are made on the socio-demographic variables of citizens of the European Union.

Since the launching of this survey, some more recent events have once again triggered the debate on the security of supply. The results of this survey come in good time, particularly in view of the Green paper on "A secure, competitive and sustainable Energy Policy for Europe" published by the European Commission in March, 2006.

The fieldwork was conducted between the 11th of October and the 15th of November 2005 in the 25 Member States as well as the acceding and candidate countries. Further details of the methodology of the survey can be found in the technical note in the annex of this report.

To find similar reports, click on a keyword below:
Citizens : Energy Efficiency : Renewable Energy Sources & Systems : Sustainable Energy : Sustainable Transport : User behaviour

Complete the Questionnaire to add your organisation to this website