Three-quarters of Europeans believe that the European Union has not done enough to tackle migration issues, fresh data issued as part of a Eurobarometer survey shows.

Through a series of EU-wide surveys carried out in April, the Eurobarometer study found that 74% of the population believed that EU action on the issue of migration is “insufficient”. In a similar survey conducted during the same month two years ago, the figure stood at 64%.

Only 17% of those surveyed believed that the action on the issue is “adequate”, down from a quarter of those questions two years ago.

According to the Eurobarometer data, about six in 10 were also of the opinion that the action by the EU was insufficient when it comes to the fight against terrorism (60%) and environmental protection (58%).

Terrorism, unemployment and the protection of the environment remain the citizens’ top priorities for European intervention

This was also the case with the fight against unemployment (54%), the fight against tax fraud (54%) and the promotion of democracy and peace in the world (52%).

Those taking part in the survey were also asked whether they believed that the EU should intervene more in certain areas.

The issue of migration and the promotion of democracy and peace in the world topped the list with 83% of those interviewed saying the union’s interventions should be stepped up.

These were followed by environmental protection (82%) and the fight against unemployment (81%).

For all the others policies, the backing for more EU action ranged from 70% to 79% of respondents.

At EU level, terrorism, unemployment and the protection of the environment were the three policy areas where, on average, more than three-quarters of respondents called for more EU intervention in the future (77%, 76% and 75% respectively).

“With no significant change in expectations since 2016, the three areas were and remain the citizens’ top priorities for European intervention,” the Eurobarometer researchers noted.

Together with the fight against tax fraud (74%), promotion of democracy and peace in the world (73%) and migration (72%), the six top-cited policy areas also matched the topics citizens have chosen as priorities for the European elections campaign, the researchers found.