Eurobarometer finds Malta support for EU membership at its highest

Support for EU membership in Malta is at its highest in five years, according to a comprehensive Eurobarometer survey published yesterday.

The Maltese also placed among the most optimistic people in the survey on perceptions carried out in the 10 EU acceding and the three candidate countries - Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria.

Though it remains high, support in the candidate countries for membership dropped six percentage points since spring 2003.

Sixty-five per cent of Maltese respondents said they favoured membership and 42 per cent said they would benefit "personally" from EU membership.

Fifty-five per cent of Maltese said EU membership was a good thing in general, a remarkable rise from the 39 per cent registered in autumn, 2001. Just 17 per cent now said it was a bad thing.

Citizens of the candidate countries would in general be sorry if the EU were to be scrapped. Fifty-two per cent of the Maltese said they would be "very sorry", while 20 per cent said they would be "relieved".

There is, however, a great deal of pessimism in the EU acceding countries about what May, 2004 will bring for their citizens.

A total of 83 per cent of Maltese said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their lives, just two per cent less than the most optimistic - the Slovenians. On the other end of the scale, just 40 per cent of Romanians and 31 per cent of Bulgarians said they were satisfied.

The survey continued to confirm the existence of a clear connection between life satisfaction in the candidate countries and national income. Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus are the only candidates with a subjective well-being level higher than the EU average.

In Estonia and Malta nearly one-third of respondents feel their situation has improved during the past five years.

Looking ahead at the next five years, 41 per cent of the Maltese feel their situation will improve, while 17 per cent think it will get worse.

In 2004, 27 per cent of respondents think their life in general will be better, and 26 per cent feel it will be worse. Sixteen per cent of the Maltese feel it will be worse, with 25 per cent forecasting a better year.

The largest proportions of those who expect no change in the economic situation for 2004 are in Bulgaria and Slovenia, while the smallest number expecting no change is found in Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia. A total of 37 per cent of the Maltese envisage the year will be worse, with a quarter saying it will be better.

The survey also measured what people expect to happen to their household's financial situation in the year to come, with 27 per cent believing their financial situation will improve and 28 per cent saying it will get worse.

The Maltese and Slovenians are the most likely to expect their financial situation to remain the same next year - 56 per cent and 54 per cent respectively.

People in Turkey (34 per cent), Lithuania and Malta (both 25 per cent) are the most relatively optimistic regarding labour market changes for 2004.

Asked whether they had trust in their national institutions, the Cypriots came on top with 56 per cent, followed by Malta with 44 per cent and Turkey with 41 per cent. Just 15 per cent of the Poles trust their institutions.

Fragmented further, the survey shows that the Maltese and Cypriots trust their political parties above all, with 29 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.

Cypriots are the most satisfied with the way democracy works in their country, with more than seven in 10 pledging satisfaction.

In Malta (60 per cent) and Slovenia (50 per cent), the majority give their country's democracy a positive assessment. In the other countries people are not satisfied with the way democracy works in their country. Just 49 per cent of Maltese respondents said they were satisfied with European democracy.

The top three most trusted institutions for the Maltese are: charitable or voluntary organisations (83 per cent), the army (69 per cent), and the police (68 per cent).

The most confident country about assigning a positive role in the EU's protection of the environment is Malta with 78 per cent.

In the candidate countries, 66 per cent believe the EU tends to play a positive role in preserving peace, while only one-third believe the same thing about the US.

A total of 74 per cent opt for the EU to promote peace, with just 37 per cent saying the same thing about the US.

People in Malta (97 per cent), Cyprus, and Slovenia are most likely to feel national pride.

The best informed about EU affairs are the Poles followed by the Maltese. In fact, the survey notes that all Maltese respondents provided at least one single correct answer on the factual questions about the EU.