Support for EU membership wanes

Just months after Malta's EU membership it seems the Maltese are already losing their enthusiasm for Europe, which dominated local politics for the past decade.

According to the latest Eurobarometer survey, published yesterday in Brussels by the European Commission, there was a five per cent decrease in the number of people who believe EU membership is a good thing for Malta when compared to the beginning of this year.

According to the survey, 45 per cent of the respondents said that EU membership is a good thing and 17 per cent, an increase of one per cent over the beginning of this year, said it was a bad thing. The most significant increase was registered among the undecided who increased by four per cent to 30 per cent, saying EU membership was neither good nor bad. The rest said they did not know.

In Malta, the survey was conducted by Misco between October 3 - 10. Five hundred people were interviewed.

Asked whether Malta had benefited from being a member of the EU, 51 per cent said it had (57 per cent in January 2004), 30 per cent said it did not (25 per cent in January 2004) and 19 per cent said they did not know.

The survey also measured the support in member states for the new European Constitution signed in October. The Maltese seem to be in favour; 56 per cent said they agreed with it and 20 per cent were against. The EU average support for the Constitution among its citizens stands at 68 per cent. The most supportive citizens are Belgians (81 per cent), Slovenians (80 per cent) and Germans (79 per cent). The Swedes, Danes and British are less enthusiastic than the Maltese.

The survey also dealt with the public's perception of life satisfaction and the problems pertaining to the country. The vast majority of the Maltese, 88 per cent, said they were either very or fairly satisfied with the life they are leading.

Asked about how they thought life would be over the next 12 months, 38 per cent said they expected it to remain the same, 34 per cent said it will better and 15 per cent said that it will get worse.

With regard to their personal economic situation, only 20 per cent answered they thought it will be better. A relative majority, 46 per cent, answered they thought that their economic situation in 2005 will be worse.

The most important issue facing Malta at the moment, according to the answers given by respondents, is the economic situation followed by unemployment and the health system.