The SPES Explorer – European Pressing Issues Dashboard is a web-based interactive application that visualises how citizens across European countries have perceived their most pressing national problems over time. It combines country-level maps with time-series charts and offers optional breakdowns by age group and gender. Users can explore, compare, and download harmonised indicators derived from Eurobarometer surveys. SPES examines productivity, equity, sustainability, participation and human security. The dashboard documents citizens’ perspectives by showing how people prioritise problems in their countries. It supports scenario building and policy dialogue by revealing shifts in perceived challenges that may motivate, accelerate, or constrain sustainable development pathways.

Methodology and data coverage

The dashboard draws on the Standard Eurobarometer survey series, which asks respondents to identify up to two issues they consider the most important problems facing their country. The Eurobarometer programme is a long-standing cross-national survey series commissioned by EU institutions. The indicators presented here span 2003–2024. In terms of geographic scope, the Standard Eurobarometer primarily covers EU and European Commission Member States, while Accession and Candidate countries may appear intermittently. Participation can differ across survey waves, and some countries may be missing for specific years depending on fieldwork and availability. The dashboard presents aggregated, derived indicators rather than respondent-level microdata.

To enable consistent comparisons over time, responses from multiple survey waves are harmonised by recoding raw answers into a stable taxonomy of concerns. For each country–year, the dashboard reports the weighted percentage of respondents who mention each concern among their top two priorities. Where available, results can be disaggregated by broad age groups (below 30, 30–60, above 60) and by gender (female/male), supporting more detailed analyses of differences in perceived priorities.

Interpretation and limitations

The indicators reflect perceived national issues, not objective conditions. Observed changes may therefore be influenced by political, economic, and social developments, as well as media attention and survey context. In addition, some country–year combinations may be missing, and certain topics may not be available in every wave. Despite these constraints, the dashboard provides a transparent and comparable basis for examining how public priorities have evolved across Europe and how shifts in perceived challenges may inform research, scenario development, and policy discussion.

SPES Explorer European Pressing Issues Dashboard
SPES Project

The SPES Explorer has been created by Roman Hoffmann, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Laxenburg, Austria; Gregor Zens, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Laxenburg, Austria.

Contributors and peer reviewers:
Camille Belmin, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA); Filippo Cuccaro, University of Florence; Andrea Ferrannini, University of Florence; Konstanze Lauseker, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA);Sanna Honkaniemi, Social Platform; Barbara Palla, University of Florence.