European experience with using ships and perceptions of maritime safety : summary

More than 400 million passengers per year move through European ports, making the maritime sector an important part of Europe's transport system. The safety of maritime transport has been the focus of a number of different measures adopted by the EU over the past decade or more, ranging from directives setting out uniform safety requirements for passenger ships, and regulations relating to the safety of vehicle and passenger ferries. The commission is also currently undertaking a comprehensive review of passenger ship safety legislation, and has recently updated goals and recommendations for the EU Maritime Transport Policy until 2018. The results presented in this report are from a larger survey commissioned by the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport to investigate the opinions of Europeans about the quality of transport in their country. The results presented in this report focus on the quality of maritime transport in the EU, and in particular: The use of maritime transport in the EU ; The perceptions of the quality of sea and river transport over the last five years ; Europeans opinions about the most serious problems affecting sea or river transport ; Attitudes towards and opinions about maritime safety ; Ways to increase feelings of safety while on board a ship Results are presented first for the EU as a whole, then for individual countries, followed by socio-demographic analysis. This survey was carried out by TNS Opinion & Social network in the 28 Member States of the European Union between the 11th and 20th of October 2014. Some 27.868 respondents from different social and demographic groups were interviewed face-to-face at home in their mother tongue on behalf of Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport. The methodology used is that of Eurobarometer surveys as carried out by the Directorate-General for Communication ("Strategy, Corporate Communication Actions and Eurobarometer" Unit). A technical note on the manner in which interviews were conducted by the Institutes within the TNS Opinion & Social network is appended as an annex to this report. Also included are the interview methods and confidence intervals.