EP tops trust league

The results of the latest Eurobarometer public opinion survey make for very interesting reading because they say a lot about what Maltese people are thinking about all things EU. The report was part of an EU-wide exercise undertaken in spring this year.

In the first place, support for EU membership in Malta has gone up to an all-time high of 60 per cent, even higher than the 55 per cent registered in autumn 2003, which was the year of the referendum.

Conversely, opposition to EU membership declined to a rock bottom 12 per cent, whereas at 26 per cent the "don't knows" are also in decline.

This tells us that four years on, EU membership has been widely accepted as a fact of life and that Europe, once a highly divisive issue in this country, has finally become a common factor of unity. Malta's result also compares very well with the EU average of 52 per cent who think positively of the EU.

As to the benefits of membership, the result is even more significant with a remarkable 69 per cent of Maltese who think that, on balance, our country has benefited from EU membership. Only 16 per cent feel that, on balance, the country has not benefited.

Not only, but support for the EU currency, the euro, which is now also our currency, was also up, hitting an extraordinary 72 per cent support, again an all-time high. Across the EU, support for the euro stands at 60 per cent.

In the second place, the report reveals that EU institutions, with the European Parliament in the lead, enjoy a higher level of trust among Maltese citizens than national institutions.

Among top institutions, the European Parliament has the highest level of trust and even more people trust the European Parliament than they trust, for example, the national government or the national Parliament in Malta. This shows that Maltese citizens certainly feel a sense of belonging, an affinity, to EU institutions and consider them as their own.

As a member of the European Parliament I am particularly satisfied at the high level of confidence that Maltese people have in the European Parliament, and I hope that Maltese MEPs have contributed to strengthen this level of confidence. After all, as they say, trust is not acquired automatically; it must be earned.

Incidentally, the result of the European Parliament is reinforced by the fact that it is also the most well known EU institution in Malta - with 94 per cent saying that they have heard of it, higher than the EU average of 87 per cent. Eighty seven per cent of Maltese also feel that the European Parliament plays an important role in their lives, compared to an average of 75 per cent in the EU.

The table indicates the confidence that Maltese citizens have in the major public institutions. Worryingly, at the bottom end of the scale, only 35 per cent of Maltese trust political parties.

In the third place, the survey reaffirms rising prices and inflation as the top concern for Maltese citizens as well as other EU citizens.

As many as 40 per cent of Maltese respondents identified this issue as their top concern, understandably so. This compares with the EU average where 37 per cent of Europeans also identified rising prices and inflation as their top concern.

In order of priority the following were the 10 main concerns identified in the survey: rising prices/inflation (40 per cent); immigration (29 per cent); the environment (21 per cent); energy related issues (18 per cent); housing (12 per cent); crime (11 per cent); the economic situation (10 per cent); unemployment (nine per cent) and pensions (seven per cent).

Of particular significance is the issue of immigration, which features as the second most important concern in Malta (but only the seventh concern in the EU). Indeed, when asked about the future of the EU, the majority of Maltese respondents (51 per cent) stated that they want immigration to be emphasised at EU level.

On the other end, it is also noteworthy that unemployment appears to have become less of an issue, and this tallies with unemployment figures in Malta which have been falling consistently over the past years.

Readers who wish to access the full results of the Eurobarometer may do so from this weblink http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb69/eb69_en.htm .

Readers who would like to ask questions to be answered in this column can send an e-mail, identifying themselves, to contact@simonbusuttil.eu or to www.simonbusuttil.eu.

Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist, member of the European Parliament.