84% of the Maltese view EU membership as beneficial, according to a Eurobarometer poll issued today.
The share of respondents who believe EU membership is a good thing for their country varied widely, from 74% in Ireland to only 31% in Greece.
As in 2015, 60% of respondents said their country benefits from being part of the Union. This percentage has remained stable in repeated surveys, from 56% in 2009, down to 52% in 2011 and up again up to 60% in the past two years.
In addition, according to 71% of respondents, there are more issues uniting Europeans than dividing them.
Elements of European identity
Democracy and freedom remained key values for 50% of those interviewed, while the Euro declined significantly to 33% (down 6 points from 2015), particularly in the Eurozone. Nearly one in two Europeans felt that a harmonised social welfare system would reinforce their sense of being a European citizen (46%, +1).
More engagement needed?
Worrying for the EU, Europeans felt that their voices count less and less, in particular at national level. Only 53% of respondents said that their voice is heard in their own country (-10 compared with 2015).
Furthermore, people do not have a positive view of the future, both in the EU, where 54% of respondents said “things are going in the wrong direction” (+13 compared with 2015), and in their own country (58%, +14 compared with 2015).
The views on the current situation divided respondents into two groups:
There are those who think that the situation is getting worse in their country more than in the EU. This was the case in 13 Member States, which have had elections or referenda (Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Spain, Croatia and Italy), or have a complicated political situation (Greece, France, Poland, Belgium, Lithuania, Slovenia and Slovakia).
There are also people who think that the situation is deteriorating more at European level than in their own country. This is the case in in Luxembourg,
Czech Republic, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, United Kingdom, Austria,Hungary,
Germany, Malta, Estonia, Portugal, Cyprus and Denmark.
The European Parliament in the media
The European Parliament has a neutral image for 44% of Europeans (-2 compared to 2015), while 46% want it to play a more significant role (+2 compared to 2015).The figures are more positive in Malta with 35% having a positive image of the European Parliament and 50% a neutral one.
A significant 69% of the Maltese would like to see the European Parliament play a more important role. 60% of respondents said they had heard about the European Parliament in the media(68% in Malta) and only 32% considered themselves informed about its activities(43% in Malta).
The full Eurobarometer survey can be consulted at this link.