EU citizens call for faster infrastructure delivery with focus on net zero says survey with Ipsos
Our latest Ipsos study of more than 7,000 Europeans across 11 EU countries shows solar power is top investment priority
Less than a third (32%) of citizens in 11 EU countries are satisfied with the state of the country’s infrastructure, according to the latest major study of public attitudes towards infrastructure investment from GIIA and Ipsos.
A majority (55%) of EU citizens agree that their country is “are not doing enough to meet our infrastructure needs”. A similar proportion (53%) agree that “investing in infrastructure will make an important contribution to combating climate change”.
EU citizens flag solar power as their number one priority area for infrastructure investment. Four in ten (40%) name it is a priority area, ahead of the local road network (39%), rail infrastructure (38%), wind energy (36%) and flood defences (35%).
GIIA Chief Executive Jon Phillips said: “Many parts of Europe hold huge investor appeal, especially as new efforts to crowd-in green investment gather steam.
“That said, a lack of consistency across EU states when it comes to attracting inward investment continues to present a challenge to global funds.
“The new Foreign Subsidies Regulation presents another set of administrative hoops through which investors are expected to jump.
“In a global economy where countries are vying to attract sustainable investment, it’s important that such regulation does not inadvertently deter the investment needed to make net zero attainable and help drive economic growth.”
In her State of the Union Adress earlier this month, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed the success of the EU’s Green New Deal, pledging to deliver a fresh series of Clean Transition Dialogues, a new European Wind Power package and the first meeting of the Critical Raw Materials club, designed to promote cooperation around securing rare resources required for net zero investments.
She also highlighted successes in the digital space, flagging that the EU has “overshot the 20% investment target in digital projects of NextGenerationEU.”
The new index shows a gulf in satisfaction levels across the bloc where digital infrastructure is concerned, between the top EU performer the Netherlands (75%) and Germany (32%) which placed bottom for digital infrastructure satisfaction across all of the 31 countries surveyed around the world.
Von der Leyen also pledged to “fast-track permitting even more” as part of a green investment drive and made multiple references to state subsidies in other markets undermining “a fair and just transition”.
The major survey of 22,000 individuals over 31 countries includes more than 7,000 citizens from across Romania, Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Poland, France and the Netherlands.
It shows the average level of satisfaction with infrastructure across the EU is in line with the G7 average (33%), but significantly below that posted for emerging economies such as Chile (49%), Mexico (51%) and Thailand (52%).
The Netherlands (40%), France (38%), Poland (38%), Ireland (35%), Sweden (34%) and Germany (33%) were the only countries to outperform the EU average level of satisfaction (32%).