Malta finds wide acceptance in EU as prospective member

Malta is the second most popular country among citizens of EU member states to join at the next enlargement, according to a Eurobarometer survey released yesterday.

Forty-eight per cent of EU citizens said they most favoured Hungary to join the EU, with a close 47 per cent expressing support for Malta's membership.

The survey, carried out last spring and published by the European Commission yesterday, places Poland third in the popularity stakes, at 44 per cent. 43 per cent of the respondents favour Cyprus and the Czech Republic as new EU members.

Turkey is the least popular, with just 31 per cent saying they would support its eventual membership.

When asked why he felt Malta's bid for membership was given such support by citizens of member states, a commission spokesman said the island seemed to be better known than many acceding countries.

"Apart from that, many consider Malta to be an unproblematic country whose membership doesn't bring too many costs and does not pose a burden," the spokesman said.

Overall, 50 per cent of those interviewed in the 15 member states are in favour of the EU's enlargement, 30 per cent are against and 20 per cent expressed no opinion.

Last year, 51 per cent of respondents agreed with enlargement.

This survey shows that support for enlargement was most widespread in Denmark (68 per cent), Greece (67 per cent) and Spain (64 per cent). France is the only country which has more people opposing enlargement (47 per cent), than supporting it (40 per cent).

The most favoured option among EU citizens is that the EU should be enlarged to include only some of the countries wishing to join, with 40 per cent holding this view. Just 21 per cent show unlimited support for all countries wishing to join.

Though the most popular solution for the immediate future of Europe in all member states is now limited enlargement, Malta features among the favourites.

Fifty-nine per cent of Italians favour Malta's accession; more than half the Finns also favour Malta; 69 per cent of Greeks and 56 per cent of the Dutch feel that Malta should be among the selected candidate countries that join the EU.

France and Sweden are the only two countries where more than three in 10 people believe the EU should not be enlarged to any additional countries, with 33 per cent each.

This view is shared by 27 per cent of the people in Belgium, 24 per cent of the people in Germany, 23 per cent of the people in Austria and the UK and 20 per cent of the people in Finland.

However, the survey points out that the public's reservations about enlargement become easier to understand when the perceived economic implications are considered.

Only 26 per cent of EU citizens agree that enlargement will not cost their own country more money. Many suspect that the budget will be shared differently, with 49 per cent feeling that once new countries have joined, their country will receive less financial aid.

It is also interesting to note that a number of EU citizens do not want future member countries to receive financial aid from the EU to help them prepare to join. Only 28 per cent believe this should happen.

Meanwhile, 41 per cent of Europeans fear that enlargement will lead to higher unemployment levels in their country.

But it is not all negative and the public does see positive aspects to enlargement.

Sixty-one per cent of EU citizens regard a union that consists of more member countries as a cultural enrichment and 53 per cent believe that a larger union will guarantee more peace and stability.

This was also the first survey to be fielded after the introduction of the euro notes and coins on January 1 this year.

The euro has been warmly welcomed and 67 per cent of those surveyed are in favour of it, with 63 per cent saying that they feel comfortable about using the euro, less than half a year after its introduction.