Opinions on bureaucracy-level in the EU 2022| ��ƽ��

Share of respondents in European Union member states describing the EU as bureaucratic in 2022

Characteristic	Very bureaucratic	Fairly bureaucratic	Don't know	Not very bureaucratic	Not at all bureaucratic
Finland	40%	45%	6%	8%	1%
Sweden	36%	46%	-	15%	3%
Germany	33%	49%	4%	11%	3%
Malta	45%	33%	7%	12%	3%
Denmark	34%	44%	5%	14%	3%
Netherlands	33%	43%	2%	15%	7%
Poland	26%	48%	4%	17%	5%
Greece	20%	53%	6%	18%	3%
Estonia	29%	43%	10%	14%	4%
EU27	26%	46%	8%	16%	4%
Italy	23%	49%	5%	19%	4%
Belgium	23%	49%	3%	21%	4%
Ireland	21%	51%	9%	16%	3%
Spain	27%	44%	14%	12%	3%
Luxembourg	23%	48%	10%	16%	3%
Czechia	36%	34%	5%	19%	6%
Austria	26%	43%	6%	20%	5%
Hungary	23%	46%	4%	24%	3%
Slovenia	22%	47%	4%	22%	5%
Cyrpus	18%	51%	8%	20%	3%
Latvia	24%	43%	12%	16%	5%
France	24%	41%	16%	16%	3%
Portugal	10%	55%	18%	16%	1%
Croatia	17%	47%	5%	28%	3%
Slovakia	23%	40%	1%	26%	10%
Romania	22%	40%	10%	24%	4%
Lithuania	19%	43%	5%	28%	5%
Bulgaria	20%	38%	12%	24%	6%

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Release date

September 2022

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Region

Survey time period

June 17 to July 17, 2022

Number of respondents

26,468 respondents

Supplementary notes

Original question: QA8.7. Please tell for each of the following words if it describes very well, fairly well, fairly badly or very badly the idea you might have of the EU (Bureaucratic).
Answer options: Describes very well, describes fairly well, describes fairly badly, describes very badly, don't know.

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Across the European Union, there is a general consensus among citizens that the institutions of the EU are bureaucratic. While bureaucracy usually carries with it a negative connotation, as it is thought of as resulting in slow and cumbersome processes which are defined by the centralized institutions in Brussels, this is not necessarily how citizens in all member states think of bureaucracy.

'Eurocrats' or guardians of the rule of law?

The term can also signify an element of competence and capacity to deal with issues in a way that follows the rule of law, rather than political or economic concerns (this could be a particularly prevalent view in countries who deal with higher ). Nevertheless, EU bureaucracy, sometimes referred to pejoratively in the media as "Eurocracy" and "eurocrats", is often used as a rhetorical device by eurosceptic movements to drive up dissatisfaction with the union.

Eurosceptic movements' rhetorical use of bureaucracy

The dissatisfaction with EU bureaucracy can be seen in movements such as which carried a slogan of "taking back control" from Brussels-based bureaucrats. This is one of the issues in the future which is likely to define debates about the EU, as European federalists aim to expand the power of the centralized institutions to have effective state capacity. In contrast, eurosceptics aim to secure greater national autonomy to pursue policy objectives divergent from those defined by the European Commission.