Trust in the government is down five percentage points even if most Maltese are upbeat about the economy, judging by the findings of a Eurobarometer study.
The survey’s first results, which were published on Thursday, show that trust in the government fell to 51 per cent from 56 per cent last year.
At the same time, the Maltese appear to be very positive about the island’s economic performance, to the extent that 85 per cent of the 506 Maltese respondents described the situation as good, an increase of 12 percentage points over the same period last year.
The results of the latest EU-wide survey, conducted locally by Misco, show that the two most pressing issues among the Maltese are immigration and the environment.
Asked to mention the two most important and difficult problems Malta is facing at the moment, 74 per cent mentioned immigration first, followed by the environment. Other concerns include the rising cost of living (16 per cent) and crime (15 per cent).
While the government, as the main political institution in the country, saw its trust ranking drop five percentage points when compared to November 2014, people continue to express their overall distrust in political parties.
Sixty per cent of the respondents, up one per cent over autumn 2014, said they tended not to trust any of the political parties, as opposed to 32 per cent who still have confidence in politicians.
Public opinion distinguishes between migration and the free movement of individuals
The economy seems to be the only real issue which inspires consensus among Maltese respondents. As they reflected on the good economic performance of the Maltese economy in the past years, particularly when compared to the economic crisis that hit the EU, 85 per cent said they felt that the economic situation in Malta was good.
Only eight per cent thought the economy was not performing.
On an individual basis, 86 per cent described the financial situation in their household as good, two per cent up on the survey’s results for 2014.
Also, 68 per cent described their job prospects as good.
On an EU level, the survey showed that popular perception of the economic situation continued to improve, with 40 per cent of citizens saying their national situation was good, up two percentage points over last year.
Immigration continued to remain the most important issue facing the EU. According to the survey, immigration was considered to be the most important issue for citizens in every EU member state except Portugal.
At the same time, public support for the free movement of people within the EU remains strong, indicating that public opinion distinguishes between migration and the free movement of individuals.
The survey also singles out terrorism as a source of growing concern in the wake of the recent attacks in Paris.