The euro seems to have far more of an impact on the Maltese psyche than it does across the eurozone as a whole, with 43% saying it makes them feel more European, compared to only 27% across the 19 member states.

And the feeling is getting stronger, not weaken, as time passes. The rate has gone up by three percentage places since 2016, according to a Eurobarometer survey conducted in October and released on Wednesday.

Around two of every three Maltese feel that the euro was a good thing for the country, and almost three quarters said it was a good thin for the EU, more or less in line with the EU average.

The Maltese also feel – more than their EU counterparts – that the euro has helped travelling, with 59% saying it made it less costly (EU: 50%) and almost twice as many saying it reduced banking charges (MT: 64%, EU: 35%).

Support for the euro
• Nearly two-thirds of respondents (64%) think that having the euro is a good thing for their country, the highest proportion since 2002, and up significantly from 56% in 2016. It is the view of the majority of respondents in 16 eurozone countries.

• Around three-quarters of respondents (74%) say that the euro is a good thing for the EU, the highest proportion in the 2010-2017 series.

• Just over a quarter of respondents (27%) say that the euro makes them feel more European than before, up from 24% in 2016. The 2017 figure is the highest level reported in the 2007-2017 series.

Euro coins and banknotes
• Almost all respondents (94%) say that they find euro banknotes easy to distinguish and handle, with more than four in five respondents in every country, and at least nine in 10 respondents in 17 countries, saying this.

• Around a third of respondents (34%) think that there are too many euro coins with different values. When prompted with the idea of abolishing 1-cent and 2-cent coins, nearly two-thirds of respondents (64%) support the idea.

Perceived impact of the euro on travelling abroad

• Half of respondents (50%) think that the euro has made travelling easier and less costly, a small increase compared with the proportion reported in 2016 (47%). It is the view of the majority of respondents in 12 countries.

• Opinion is evenly divided on whether the euro has reduced banking charges when travelling in different EU countries. Just over a third of respondents (35%) say that the euro has reduced banking charges while a similar proportion (36%) say that it has not.