Plenary Insights – December 2025 

Each plenary session, Members are provided with relevant public opinion data on key agenda topics:

• Preparation for the European Council meeting: Overall satisfaction with the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains stable. More than half of respondents are satisfied with measures taken at both EU and national levels. More than seven in ten respondents (73%) agree with imposing economic sanctions on Russian government, companies, and individuals - including the use of immobilised Russian assets to finance support for Ukraine. (Standard Eurobarometer - Autumn 2025)
• EU defence readiness: Support for a common defence and security policy among EU Member States stands at 79%. (Standard Eurobarometer - Autumn 2025) Around eight in ten respondents (81%) agree that Member States’ purchase of military equipment should be better coordinated. (Standard Eurobarometer Spring 2025)
• Mercosur safeguards for agriculture: More than three quarters of Europeans support the EU’s common trade policy (77%). (Standard Eurobarometer Spring 2025) 83% of EU citizens say that the EU should strengthen its economic independence and diversify its trade relations with countries all over the world. (Standard Eurobarometer - Autumn 2025) In all Member States at least 75% of citizens agree that agricultural imports of any origin should only enter the EU if their production has complied with the EU’s environmental, animal welfare and labour standards. (Eurobarometer survey on Europeans, Agriculture and the CAP)
• European Affordable Housing Plan: Europeans regard housing as the fourth most important political issue facing their country at the moment. While Ireland (65%, +1 percentage point since April/May 2025) and Luxembourg (56%, +2 pp) remain the countries where the largest proportion of people regard housing as important, the urgency of the issue has risen sharply in the Netherlands (52%, +14 pp) and Spain (36%, +10 pp). (Standard Eurobarometer - Autumn 2025)
• Award of the Sakharov Prize: 49% of EU citizens say they have heard of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, which is an increase of 6 percentage points since 2019. However, only 19% feel well informed about it, while 39% say they feel not at all informed. (Eurobarometer survey on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union)