EU's most energy-efficient conscious consumers are Maltese

The Maltese have emerged as the most energy-efficient conscious consumers in Europe, according to a Eurobarometer survey.

Probably prompted by the steep hike in water and electricity prices, Maltese respondents appeared to be highly conscious when buying high energy consumption products such as cars or home appliances.

The survey, aimed at researching European consumers' attitudes towards environmentally-friendly products, showed that although Maltese consumers take the environmental impact of a particular product seriously when shopping, price was still the most important determining factor in their final choice. Reflecting the high cost of utilities such as electricity, water and fuel, 84 per cent of Maltese said the energy efficiency of cars and domestic appliances was the most important aspect they looked at when deciding on a purchase. The Maltese average was much higher than the EU's, where only 77 per cent said running costs of products was the most important aspect.

At the same time, although 85.6 per cent of Maltese said they considered the environmental impact of a particular product before buying, the final price of a product was finally the most important aspect. In fact, 88 per cent said they gave more weight to the price of a product than its environmental impact.

Brands or renowned products also played a very important part in Malta's consumption patterns.

Drastically above the EU average of 39 per cent, Maltese consumers are more aware of how the product looks and who its producer is. So much so that 62 per cent of respondents said branding was a very important aspect in their purchases.

The country which follows Malta in the importance attached to branding is Cyprus, another island with a small population.

Asked to say what taxes, if any, should be applied to promote environmentally-friendly products, the majority of Maltese consumers, 49.3 per cent, said such items should have lower taxes, while 11.7 per cent said dangerous products should have higher taxes.

On the other hand, 28.2 per cent said there should be a combination of both. Only 5.4 per cent said there should be no taxes.

On an EU-wide level, the survey's results showed four out of five Europeans said they considered the environmental impact of the products they bought.

Environmental consideration was highest in Greece, where more than nine in 10 of those surveyed said a product's impact on the environment played an important aspect in their purchasing decisions. Europeans were evenly divided about producer claims on environmental performance. There was also strong support for retailers to play a role in promoting environmentally-friendly products and for mandatory carbon labelling.

Under half of Europeans said eco labels played an important part when shopping - just one in 10 said the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by a product should feature on environmental labels. Some 72 per cent of EU citizens felt a label indicating a product's carbon footprint should be mandatory in the future.

Attitudes on the subject varied between member states, with the Czechs the least in favour of such labelling (47 per cent) and the Greeks wholeheartedly behind the idea (90 per cent).