Values and attitudes

• Pages: 43-51

43

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Values and attitudes

Immigration into t he EU and the integration of migra nts

and asylum seekers rem ains at the top of the poli tical

agenda throughout the EU. AEurobarometer survey

conducted in Novemb er 2018 found that Europea ns

view immigratio n as the most impor tant issue facin g

the EU by aconsidera ble margin.94 Furthe rmore, the

Standard Eurobarometer(89) of spring 2018 found that ,

in 20 EU countries, at least ha lf of respondents have

anegative feeling about immigration from outside

the EU. The share of respond ents who feel this way is

highest in countri es with small numbers of immi grants,

such as Slovakia (83 %), Hungary (81 %), and the Czech

Republic and Lat via (both 80 %).95

The EU Council adopted i n 2004 aseries of comm on

basic principles (CBPs) for immigrant integration.96 They

highlight the im portance of respect for the b asic EU val-

ues: CBP 2 sets out that i ntegration implies respect for

the basic values of th e EU, including respect for huma n

rights and equa lity between wom en and men; CBP 7

points out that freq uent interaction b etween immi-

grants and Mem ber State citizens is a fundamental

mechanism for integr ation (e.g. shared forums, inter-

cultural dialogue, education about immigrants and

immigrant cult ures); CBP 9 focuses on the impor tance

of the participat ion of immigrant s in the democratic

process and in the formulation of integration policies

and measures, especia lly at the local level.

94 Standard Eurobarometer 90, p. 12.

95 Sta ndard Eurobarometer 8 9, p. 37.

96 Council of th e European Union (2014), Council conclusions

of the Council a nd the Representative s of the Governments

of the Member St ates on the integratio n of third-country

nationals le gally residing in th e EU, Justice and Home Af fairs

Council Meet ing, Luxembourg, 56J une 2014.

This chapter examin es some gender differences in the

survey results related to so cial participa tion and atti-

tudes towards gender equality.

5.1. Societal participation

The survey challe nges apopular perception that immi-

grants are social ly segregated. The resu lts show that,

on average, most women (81%) and men (87%) said

that they have friends without any minority back-

ground (Figure 14). Avery simi lar proportio n, 79 % of

women and 82 % of men, sai d that they have friends

among people wi th different ethnic m inority back-

grounds. The lowest sh ares of women respondent s

with friends without an ethnic minority background

are found among thos e with African descent in Austria

(52%) and Italy ( 55%), as well as among thos e with

south Asian des cent in Italy (55%). The lowest propor-

tions among men are o bserved in Malta for persons of

African descent (51 %), in Greece for respondents of

(South) Asian descent (59%), and in Poland for recent

immigrants ( 59%). Gender differences are mo re pro-

nounced in Austria a mong respondent s with African

descent (women 52%– me n 67%); in Cyprus among

respondents from A sia (women 72%– men 94 %); in

Italy among respondents from (South) Asia (women

55%– men 74%), Sub-Saharan Africa (women 55%–

men 75%) and North Africa (women 67%– men 79%).