New poll shows 5%rise in 'yes' vote

A total of 47 per cent of the Maltese would vote 'yes' in a referendum on EU membership, an increase of five per cent since last spring, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey carried out among candidate countries.

Thirty-two per cent said they would vote against membership, while just five per cent said they would not vote. The rest expressed no opinion.

With referenda in the majority of the candidate countries approaching, the European Commission yesterday released the second opinion poll about the EU in the space of a month.

The survey was based on a sample of 500 face-to-face interviews carried out between September 2 and October 16.

Malta is no longer the biggest EU-sceptic country among the candidate countries. Support for membership appears to be declining in Latvia (45 per cent said they would vote in favour) and Estonia (39 per cent in favour).

Still, in each of the candidate countries, those who would vote in favour of membership outnumber those against.

People in Romania (78 per cent), Bulgaria (68 per cent), Hungary (67 per cent) and Turkey (65 per cent) are the most in favour of their country's membership.

A total of 45 per cent of Maltese believe EU membership would be "a good thing" (an increase of seven per cent since last spring), 22 per cent said it would be "a bad thing", while about a quarter of respondents said it would be neither good nor bad.

When asked whether Malta could reap advantages from being a member of the EU, 49 per cent replied in the affirmative, and 30 per cent said 'no'. Forty per cent said they would "personally benefit" from the EU.

Seventy-two per cent of Maltese said they would vote in a referendum, 16 per cent were not sure, while 12 per cent were unlikely to vote.

Half of Maltese respondents said they trusted the EU, with only 32 per cent replying 'no'.

It was only in Malta, Slovenia and Cyprus that more than one in 10 respondents considered their level of knowledge about the EU as satisfactory.

Fifty-four per cent of Maltese said they would support the introduction of the euro, 35 per cent opposed it, while 10 per cent were undecided.

In general, the survey confirms a high level of support for membership which will, in the respondents' view, be of benefit to their countries.

The Eurobarometer also shows that trust in the EU remains high, despite very low levels of self-perceived knowledge and information.

It also indicated that the outcome of the referenda on membership could be more influenced by low turnout than by opposition to membership.

The results are striking in that the number of people who are against their country's membership dropped by about 20 percentage points in the space of one year.

Finally it reveals a high level of support for the euro, as well as the idea of a constitution for the EU.