1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:08,799 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. So new polling from 2 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:11,559 Speaker 1: Yugo from across nine EU countries is giving us a 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: fresh insight into the biggest political issues facing the continent 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: and how voters think their governments and the European Union 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: is handling them. The company surveyed more than a thousand 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: people in countries including France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: and Jema Connor Associate director Yugov joins me now in 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: studio for more to discuss JMA, good morning. Let's start 9 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: with some of the big issues in this survey as well. 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 1: We know that inflation has come down massively in the 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: Euro Area since twenty twenty two, but economic and cost 12 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: of living issues still very prominent across your survey. How 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: does that play out among the various countries where you 14 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: survey people. 15 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 2: Absolutely so. If we look at the data from these 16 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 2: nine European countries, we can see that there's generally a 17 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 2: pretty gloomy outlook from their national economies. People generally think 18 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 2: that their government is doing a bad job of managing 19 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 2: the economy, and actually the EU do a bad job 20 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 2: for managing the European economy as well. If we look 21 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 2: particularly at the cost of living. People are struggling. We 22 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 2: ask one particular question where we ask about people's personal 23 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 2: experiences of the cost of living, and people generally finding 24 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 2: that they're having to make cuts or they expect to 25 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 2: make cuts in the future. This has particularly felt quite 26 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 2: strongly in Romania where fifty eight percent of people so 27 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 2: they've already made cuts to their typical spending at home 28 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 2: and expect to make further cuts in the future. So 29 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 2: people really struggling at the moment and actually expect to 30 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:30,279 Speaker 2: continue to struggle into the future. 31 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, because the perceptions of the future are very interesting 32 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: here as well. How worried are people about their future 33 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: economically and sort of the risks of a downturn of 34 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: the economy. 35 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 2: Absolutely, so we ask a question where we say, what 36 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 2: do you think the economy will look like in twelve 37 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 2: months time? And people are really negative here. So across 38 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 2: most of the countries people think that the economy will 39 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 2: be in recession. The only outlier here is Denmark, where 40 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 2: forty two percent think that the economy will be stable, 41 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 2: but that is stable rather than growing. There's no country 42 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 2: where people who actually have a positive outlook in that 43 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 2: next year or so you. 44 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: Tackle some of the big fiscal questions in this survey 45 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: as well, and in particular around defense spending, something that 46 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: many European countries have been ramping up. They're spending on that, 47 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: provoking difficult decisions as we know about what exactly the 48 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: governments are going to choose to spend their money on 49 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: as well. How supportive are the Europeans that you surveyed 50 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: of increasing spending on defense. 51 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 2: So when it comes to defense, geography really matters. So 52 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 2: those countries that are closest to Russia or at most 53 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 2: a threat from Russia have really different attitudes to those 54 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 2: in more western Europe. So countries like Poland Romania are 55 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 2: much more supportive of increasing financial spending contriting more to NATO. 56 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 2: They're also much more likely to say that NATO is 57 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 2: important to their country's defense. And when we ask what 58 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,640 Speaker 2: they think of the biggest threats face in Europe, those 59 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 2: countries that are at threat from Russia and feel most 60 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 2: threatened are most likely to say that Ussian aggression is 61 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 2: the biggest threat face in the whole of Europe. 62 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: And I was interested in the way that the question 63 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: around the fans banding was phrase because it did make 64 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: reference to the other difficult decisions that governments have to 65 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: make and that what do they support it regardless of 66 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: the other issues that those governments are facing. So it's 67 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: an interesting one to reflect on as well. I want 68 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: to also touch on some of the issues around technology, 69 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: which you covered in this survey, because particularly the use 70 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: of AI and who's using it and where, because it 71 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: perhaps may not be as widespread as we may otherwise 72 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: have thought. 73 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely so, people generally have an idea of what 74 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 2: AI is. They're less sure about the issues around AI, 75 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 2: and they're really not sure about whether it's a positive 76 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 2: or negative thing in terms of use. Often there's quite 77 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 2: a few people who've never used AI at all for 78 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,119 Speaker 2: either work or for leisure. Particularly for work. For example, 79 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 2: forty percent of those in France say they've never used 80 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 2: AI for work, and there is more uptake in countries 81 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 2: like the Netherlands of Romania where people slightly more likely 82 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 2: to say that they're using AI. But the jury is 83 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 2: still really out on AI for the public. 84 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: And you did also ask as well about the question 85 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: of regulation of this technology, because of course the EU 86 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: has its AI Act. It's something that's been quite controversial. 87 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: It's come up, for example, and negotiations with the US 88 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: over trade as well. What's the view among the public 89 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: of how the EU is regulating AI. 90 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 2: This is one area where the public are very certain 91 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 2: how they feel. So they may not know that much 92 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 2: about AI, they may not know how they personally feel 93 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 2: about it, but they're absolutely certain that the AI industry 94 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 2: should be regulated over being allowed to kind of roam 95 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 2: free and innovate as quickly as it may want to. 96 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 2: A majority across all countries polled feel that regulation is 97 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 2: more important than that development. 98 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: Which is I think very interesting in the conversation that 99 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: we're having around AI as well. Now we're speaking to 100 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: you just ahead of European leaders arriving in Brussels for 101 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: the European Council later this week. In terms of a 102 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: big picture conclusion for policymakers out of your sera as well, 103 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: where do people feel like they should be focusing their 104 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: efforts in terms of the policy sphere. 105 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 2: It's certainly the economy. The economy is a big issue 106 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 2: for many countries, but actually the threat from Russia is 107 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 2: very real for those countries that are certainly geographically closer 108 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 2: or are in a strategic position for Russia. So places 109 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 2: like Denmark with the Baltic Passage and those countries are 110 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 2: feeling the threat from Russia and they're very supportive of 111 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,720 Speaker 2: having more cooperation from the US, between the US and 112 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 2: the EU on security matters. They want NATO to be 113 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 2: playing a role, they want that defense, They want countries 114 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 2: to be contributing more to NATO to really feel that 115 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 2: they are being protected, and that threat from Russia is 116 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 2: very real. In Western Europe, the issue is more cost 117 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 2: of living that that is something that people are feeling 118 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,039 Speaker 2: the pinch still and they don't feel that their national 119 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 2: governments or the EU are doing enough to support them 120 00:05:58,640 --> 00:05:59,119 Speaker 2: at the moment.