Plenary Insights – March 2026 

Selection of Eurobarometer data in relation to the key topics of the plenary session:

• Housing Crisis in the EU: Citizens regard housing as one of the most pressing political questions. When asked to select the two most important issues facing their country from a list of 15 topics, 13% choose housing. This puts the issue in joint fourth place, only after rising prices / inflation / cost of living (31%, =), the economic situation (19%, -1 pp), and immigration (15%, +1 pp), and at the same level as security and defence. 26% of EU citizens say that housing is one of the main areas in which they would like the European Union to spend its budget. (Standard Eurobarometer - Autumn 2025) Only 32% of EU citizens are satisfied with access to affordable housing in their country. (Eurobarometer on Investing in fairness)

• International Women’s Day: European citizens identify disinformation (69%), hate speech online and offline (68%), fake content generated by artificial intelligence (68%), insufficient data protection (68%), and threats to freedom of expression (67%) as top concerns related to communication and society. Women are slightly more worried than men about these concerns, with the most notable gap observed for hate speech online and offline (71% vs. 64%). (EP Autum 2025 Eurobarometer) 92% of EU citizens indicate that it is urgent to protect children from cyberbullying and online harassment. (Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade 2025)
• Gender Pay and Pension Gap in the EU: 51% of EU citizens say that men are better treated at work than women, while only 6% say that women receive better treatment at work. 40% say they are treated the same way. (Eurobarometer on Gender stereotypes) 45 % of EU citizens say they have heard of Equal Pay Day, but only 24% of those say they know what it entails. 53% have not yet heard of it. (Eurobarometer on Justice, rights and values) 
• Citizens’ Energy Package: The most frequent response to the question of how to improve the energy market is better protection for vulnerable consumers and those experiencing energy poverty, selected by 38% of eligible survey respondents. (Eurobarometer on Consumer behaviour in the energy transition)
• EU Enlargement Strategy: Recent data show that 52% of Europeans generally support the enlargement of the EU in future years. (Standard Eurobarometer - Autumn 2025) According to 45% of citizens, the areas in which the EU has most benefited from previous rounds of enlargement are the economy and competitiveness. (Eurobarometer on Attitudes towards EU Enlargement)