The protection of human rights and, most importantly, of the right not to be executed, is considered to be one of Europe’s principal contemporary values. It is one of the key ‘Copenhagen criteria’ that needs to be met before any country can be considered as a potential member of the European Union.

According to the latest data from the European Values Survey, on a scale of 1 (never) to 10 (always), 45% of all Europeans answered ‘never’ when asked if they agree with the death penalty; just 8% answered ‘always’.

It’s possible that where the memory of executions is recent, or continues to be kept alive, opposition to the idea of execution being reintroduced is strongest. The largest number opposed to the idea is observed in Kosovo (87%), followed by Malta (68%), Turkey (67%), Italy (63%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (60%). Countries where the fewest people say the death penalty should never be reintroduced include the Czech Republic (15%), Lithuania (21%), Latvia (21%), Hungary (22%), Estonia (24%) and the United Kingdom (25%).

There have long been debates about the importance of religion in shaping European identity – in particular of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, which are often described as the ‘great religions of the West’. But how important is religion in the life of Europeans?

According to the most recent data from the European Values Survey, 27% of all Europeans consider religion to be very important and another 27% as ‘quite important’, whereas for 22% it is ‘not at all important’.

In Turkey, 80% of the surveyed population believe that religion is very important in their lives, followed by Cyprus (59%), Malta (59%) and Romania (55%). The smallest percentages are observed in Estonia (5%), the Czech Republic (6.3%), Germany (7.8%) and Sweden (8.3%).