Brussels, 05/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - Most European citizens would be willing, they say, to change their purchasing habits in order to buy more environmentally-friendly products but only if those products were truly environmentally-friendly. Many citizens believe they are not sufficiently informed and distrust the environmental claims made by manufacturers, according to the results of the Eurobarometer survey (No 367), published on Friday 5 July by the European Commission. The survey on the “Attitudes of Europeans towards building the single market for green products”, recommended by the Commission (see EUROPE 10823), shows that 77% of respondents would be willing to pay more for environmentally-friendly products if they were confident that the products were truly environmentally-friendly. However, no more than 55% of respondents feel they are sufficiently informed about the environmental impact of the products they buy and use.
The survey was carried out at the request of the Commission in December 2012 in the 28 EU member states among a representative sample of 25,568 people from different social and demographic groups, quizzed by telephone in their mother tongue. Findings of the survey also reveal that 89% of respondents consider that, by buying environmentally-friendly products, they can contribute to protecting the environment, and 74% believe that such products are as effective as ordinary products. Confidence that products labelled environmentally-friendly are less harmful to the environment is highest in Portugal (84%), Malta (82%), France (81%) and Belgium (81%). Percentages are far lower in Germany (44%), Romania (46%) and the Netherlands (47%).
Although 52% of EU citizens taking part in the survey trust producers' claims about the environmental performance of their products, a majority of Europeans do not trust companies' reports on their own environmental performance (54%). EU citizens are most likely to believe that they have come across exaggerated or misleading statements in Romania (40%), Bulgaria (40%), Greece (39%) and Latvia (37%). This belief is least common in Malta (17%) and Estonia (20%). There is nonetheless strong support for obliging companies to publish reports on their overall environmental performance and the environmental performance of their products (69%).
Across the EU, two thirds of people (66%) would be willing to pay more for a product if its guarantee of reliability was extended to five years. More than nine out of ten respondents also think the expected lifespan of products should be indicated (92%). Almost half of all respondents had decided not to have a faulty product repaired in the past 12 months because the repair costs were too high (47%).
The survey provides grist to the European Commission's mill. “We are working with companies and other stakeholders to develop the credible information consumers are looking for when they buy products. This will help develop markets and open up opportunities for innovation and investment in the green economy”, Janez Potocnik, European Environment Commissioner, has stressed. His communication on the setting in place of a single market for green products and the recommendation on the use of harmonised methods at EU level, presented in April, triggered a pilot project for the finalisation of more effective solutions for measuring the environmental impact of products.
The Eurobarometer survey is available online:
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/flash_arch_374_361_en.htm #367 (AN/transl.jl)