ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the cases and the context, i.e. the country contexts and political contexts during the time the focus groups were carried out. The focus groups took place in Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, and Slovenia, and hence in eastern, northern, central, and southern European Union (EU) member states; founding member states; and nearly all of the following enlargement rounds, small, medium, and large member states. The countries thus are rather different in terms of size, geographical location, and EU membership. In each country, the national political context influenced the focus group discussions, so some national differences were thematised. But similarities were considerable. All countries were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the War against Ukraine, which both took place during the time of the research. Climate change and migration were also pertinent topics of public interest.
