Tekijät

• Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA)

Asiasanat

European Union, European integration, businesses, decision making, foreign policy, globalization, immigration, intergroup conflict, intergroup relations, labour market, occupational life, parliamentary elections, refugees

Sisällön kuvaus

The main themes of the survey included differences between population groups, the so-called local labour agreements (increased freedom and flexibility for employers and employees to agree on the terms of employment locally), economic decline in Finland, globalisation, Finnish foreign policy, the EU and eurozone, and civic participation.

First, the respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with a large number of statements relating to, for instance, political parties and the political system, globalisation, employment, trade unions and strikes, economic growth and markets, taxation, changes in society, immigration and refugees, Finland's foreign relations, terrorism, the EU and the eurozone, and NATO membership.

The respondents were asked how strong they thought tensions/conflicts between different groups were (e.g. employers - employees, the rich - the poor, the highly-educated - the poorly-educated, native Finns - immigrants). Happiness with life was investigated. Relating to the discussion about increasing the flexibility of labour agreements, the respondents were asked where the agreements about various work-related issues, such as wages and working time, should be made (at the level of the workplace, at the union level or at the national level). Opinions on the barriers to the improvement of the Finnish economy were charted.

The respondents' international connections and relations were examined by asking, for instance, whether the respondents had ever been abroad, whether they personally knew any foreigners living in Finland, and whether they spoke foreign languages. The potential future developments of the EU and the EMU that the respondents hoped to see happen in the following 10 years were surveyed (e.g. dissolution of the EU, Finland quitting the euro, the development of the EU into a federation). Relating to Finland's foreign policy, the respondents were asked how much weight should be given to different issues (e.g. fight against terrorism, relations with Russia, Nordic defence cooperation, combating climate change).

Further questions relating to the European Union were asked, charting interest in matters related to Finland's EU membership as well as opinions on Finland's EU membership and the currency change to the euro. The respondents were also asked whether the EMU membership and the euro were advantageous or disadvantageous to Finland in the economic situation at the time of the survey, whether Finland had supported EU countries with economic problems too little or too much, and whether the respondents would have voted for or against Finland's EU membership if a referendum had been held at the time of responding. Finally, opinions were charted on the impact of different things and phenomena (e.g. social media, populism, citizens' initiatives) on the respondents' civic participation.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, region of residence (NUTS3), basic and vocational education, economic activity and occupational status, industry of employment, political party choice if parliamentary elections were held at the time of survey, membership in a trade union, self-perceived social class, and number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence.