EU Public Opinion Survey in New Zealand, July 2009 Short Analysis.1
- When asked spontaneously to identify which countries are New Zealand's most important partners, the overwhelming majority of Kiwis (76%) say Australia. The United States comes second (50%), followed by China (37%) and the United Kingdom (35%). Asia (19%), the EU (14%) and Japan (11%) are next.
- Two New Zealanders out of five think China is very important for their country's future, followed by one in four or five who mention the UK, Europe, Japan or North America. The results for Russia and South America are low (2% each).
- Four Kiwis out of five (79%) say they have heard of the EU. Awareness of the UN (96%) and of the WTO (93%) is higher. Just over half of New Zealanders (54%) say they have heard of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.
- When asked about the following countries, more than half of New Zealanders have a positive impression of Australia (85%), followed by Japan (58%), the United States (54%) and the EU (52%). Fewer (44%) have a positive image of China, with one in six (16%) having negative perceptions.
- Most Kiwis believe relations between New Zealand and the EU are steady (54%), with twice as many saying they are improving (22%) than worsening (11%).
- Most Kiwis acknowledge the EU as a global political power, having a high impact on New Zealand as a world trade power, as a market for NZ agricultural products and agricultural subsidies, while recognising the importance of its economic growth on their country as well as its support for reducing gas emissions.
- Almost half of all New Zealanders believe the EU's relations with Pacific countries have a major impact on New Zealand. A third perceives EU promotion of human rights and democracy as well as development aid to be significant in the region. Relatively few acknowledge the significance of the EU's role in Fiji.
- New Zealanders have strong connections with Europe. 59% declare personal or professional links with an EU country. 45% of Kiwis are connected with the UK, 17% with Ireland, 14% with France and 12% with Germany.
- Following the EU Language Public Survey realized in 20072, only 15% of New Zealanders say they are able to hold a conversation in a language other than English. However, four out of five (79%) say they would like to have the opportunity of learning another language. The most popular language people want to learn is French (31%), followed by Spanish (20%). German scores the same as Maori (14%). Then come individual Asian languages – Japanese and Chinese – as well as Italian.
EU Public Opinion Survey in New Zealand, July 2009 Topline Results
Q1 Can you please tell me which overseas countries or regions, you think, are the most important partners for New Zealand? [spontaneous & responses allowed]
|
Australia |
76% |
| United States |
50% |
| China |
37% |
| United Kingdom |
35% |
| Asia |
19% |
| European Union |
14% |
| Japan |
11% |
| Canada |
3% |
| India |
3% |
| France |
2% |
| Germany |
1% |
| Ireland |
1% |
| South America |
1% |
| South Africa |
0% |
| Russia |
0% |
| Others |
19% |
Q2 How important to New Zealand's future do you consider the following regions, on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is not important at all and 5 is very important?
|
High (5) |
Medium (2-4) |
Low (1) |
| China |
39% |
57% |
3% |
| Britain |
24% |
71% |
3% |
| Europe (including the UK) |
23% |
75% |
3% |
| Japan |
22% |
73% |
3% |
| North America |
21% |
73% |
5% |
| Asia (excluding China and Japan) |
12% |
81% |
6% |
| India |
9% |
80% |
9% |
| South America |
2% |
85% |
11% |
| Russia |
2% |
75% |
21% |
Q3 Can you please tell me which of the following you have heard of before?
| The United Nations, or “UN” |
96% |
| The World Trade Organisation, or “WTO” |
93% |
| The European Union, or “EU” |
79% |
| The European Commission |
54% |
Q4 Generally speaking, would you say your impressions of the following countries are positive, neutral or negative?
|
Positive |
Neutral |
Negative |
Don’t know/ No opinion |
Australia |
85% |
14% |
1% |
0% |
Japan |
58% |
35% |
6% |
1% |
United States |
54% |
33% |
12% |
1% |
European Union |
52% |
37% |
7% |
3% |
China |
44% |
39% |
16% |
1% |
Q5 How would you rate the state of the relationship between New Zealand and Europe?
Improving |
22% |
Steady |
54% |
Worsening |
11% |
Don't know |
13% |
Q6A On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is no impact at all and 10 is a huge impact, please tell me how much impact you think this will have on New Zealand?
|
High (7-10) |
Medium (4-6) |
Low (1-3) |
Don't know |
EU actions as a global political power |
54% |
31% |
11% |
5% |
EU relations with Pacific countries |
46% |
36% |
13% |
5% |
EU relations with Asia |
44% |
41% |
9% |
5% |
EU political relations with the USA |
44% |
40% |
12% |
5% |
EU enlargement |
40% |
38% |
12% |
8% |
EU role in the Middle East |
31% |
44% |
18% |
7% |
Appointment of a new European Commission |
28% |
44% |
11% |
18% |
Adoption of EU constitution |
27% |
43% |
14% |
17% |
Elections to the EU Parliament |
26% |
45% |
19% |
10% |
Q6B On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is no impact at all and 10 is a huge impact, please tell me how much impact you think this will have on New Zealand in the near future?
|
High (7-10) |
Medium (4-6) |
Low (1-3) |
Don't know |
EU agricultural subsidies |
60% |
24% |
9% |
7% |
EU as a market for NZ agricultural produce |
58% |
30% |
9% |
3% |
EU actions as a world trade power |
57% |
31% |
7% |
6% |
EU support for reducing gas emissions |
52% |
28% |
14% |
6% |
EU economic growth |
51% |
37% |
7% |
4% |
EU role in the GMO debate |
45% |
34% |
13% |
9% |
EU actions against international terrorism |
43% |
36% |
15% |
6% |
EU economic relations with the US |
42% |
44% |
7% |
6% |
EU advocacy of human rights and democracy |
41% |
39% |
12% |
9% |
The Euro |
38% |
40% |
13% |
8% |
EU migration regulations |
37% |
40% |
13% |
10% |
EU as a donor of development aid |
33% |
40% |
16% |
9% |
EU business anti-trust competition regulations |
31% |
43% |
9% |
17% |
Q7 On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is not significant at all and 5 is really significant, how would you rate the involvement of the EU in the Pacific in terms of policy towards the following issues?
|
High (4-5) |
Medium (3) |
Low (1-2) |
| Human rights and democracy |
34% |
29% |
27% |
| Development aid |
33% |
29% |
25% |
| Fisheries |
30% |
26% |
27% |
| Poverty reduction |
29% |
21% |
36% |
| Stability and good governance |
28% |
28% |
32% |
| Fiji |
21% |
24% |
39% |
Q8 Which of the following EU-27 countries, if any, do you have personal or professional connections/ties with?
(Results displayed only for countries which 5% or more of the sample declared having ties with)
| United Kingdom |
45% |
| Ireland |
17% |
| France |
14% |
| Germany |
12% |
| Spain |
9% |
| Italy |
8% |
| Netherlands |
8% |
| Others |
36% |
| None |
41% |
EU Language Survey 2007 – Topline Results
Q1A Apart from English, are there any other languages you can speak fluently enough to hold a conversation with another person?
Q1B And if you had the opportunity to learn other languages than your own, which ones, if any, would you be interested in learning?
|
Q6
Speak Fluently |
Q6A
Interest in learning |
English |
|
- |
Maori |
4% |
14% |
Samoan |
- |
- |
Tongan |
- |
- |
Chinese |
1% |
8% |
Japanese |
- |
12% |
Q1A Apart from English, are there any other languages you can speak fluently enough to hold a conversation with another person?
Q1B And if you had the opportunity to learn other languages than your own, which ones, if any, would you be interested in learning?
|
Q6
Speak Fluently |
Q6A
Interest in learning |
English |
|
- |
Maori |
4% |
14% |
Samoan |
- |
- |
Tongan |
- |
- |
Chinese |
1% |
8% |
Japanese |
- |
12% |
Korean |
- |
1% |
Spanish |
- |
20% |
French |
2% |
31% |
German |
1% |
14% |
Italian |
- |
10% |
NZ sign language |
- |
1% |
Other (PLEASE SPECIFY)
- Dutch
- Afrikaans
- Hindi
- Mandarin
- Thai
- Danish
- Russian
- Latin
|
1%
2%
1%
-
-
-
-
- |
1%
1%
-
2%
1%
1%
1%
1% |
Don’t know |
- |
4% |
None |
85% |
17% |
Click here for the full results from the survey in pdf format.
1The National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE) commissioned a survey of a random nationally-representative sample of 650 New Zealanders 18+ age group who were interviewed by random phone dialing in July 2009. Quotas were applied to area, gender and age to ensure as accurate a cross section of the New Zealand population as possible. The sample was screened to ensure only those interviewed were citizens or permanent residents of NZ. The margin of error is plus or minus 4%.
2A nationally-representative random sample of 500 New Zealanders 15+ age group was interviewed by telephone during the period 6-12th December 2007. The data was weighted by age within gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status. The maximum margin of error is 4.4%. Field work was undertaken by Consumer Link coordinated by Ignite Research.