The data consist of responses given by the 2009 European Parliamentary election candidates to YLE (Finland's national public service broadcasting company) candidate selector. The candidates' opinions were charted with 30 statements, which they assessed using a 4-point scale (strongly agree - strongly disagree). The topics covered attitudes towards the European Union, Finland's position in the EU, free trade, climate and energy policy, immigration policy and minorities, military co-operation, EU enlargement, agricultural subsidies, and taxation. Background variables included the respondent's age, education, status in employment, language proficiency, political experience, election budget, and the most important external source of funding. In addition, the dataset includes the candidates' names and political parties.

2009