The biannual public opinion survey on what European citizens think about the EU, its institutions and their national governments again makes interesting reading.
The latest winter 2020-2021 report has 176 pages of statistics that, with some selective number-crunching, depicts the mood of every member state citizens on personal, political, social and economic issues that affect their lives.
Not surprisingly, one leading conclusion of the latest report is that most Europeans have put health as their primary concern at this time of an extended medical crisis.
The Maltese seem to be more concerned about health issues than the average for the EU. However, the Maltese are also more satisfied than other Europeans with how the government is dealing with the COVID crisis.
The survey results start with a catch-all question that encapsulates the mood of European citizens. While, in the EU, only over a third of those interviewed said they felt very good or rather good about their current situation, in Malta, just under two-thirds felt the same way.
The Maltese also seem more satisfied with the prevailing local economic situation, with almost two-thirds saying they were positive.
In the EU, just under a third of people say they feel optimistic about the state of the economy.
When asked about the most crucial issue facing their country, all EU citizens agreed that, apart from health, the economic situation was their primary concern, followed by the risk of unemployment.
However, while listing the economic situation as their main concern, the Maltese rank immigration, the state of the environment and crime much higher than other Europeans.
Like most Europeans, the Maltese have low ratings of trust in political parties even if they have a slightly higher faith in politics. However, with just about a quarter of EU citizens trusting political parties, political leaders have a lot of work to bridge this gap between themselves and ordinary people.
One worrying aspect for local societal leaders is that only a third of Maltese have trust in the justice system while the EU average is just over half of the population.
The trust rating of the media is not much better as just over half of European citizens trust the written, radio, TV and internet media. The trust rating of the Maltese for the media is even less than that of other EU citizens.
The government will, undoubtedly, feel satisfied that just under half of the Maltese are satisfied with the government performance when the EU average is just over a third.
An unsurprising finding is that trust in the EU and its institutions is higher in most member states than in national governments.
Just under one-half of EU citizens trust the EU while almost two-thirds trust the Union in Malta.
Put simply, most Europeans have more faith in the EU and its institutions than in their local governments.
Like all public opinion surveys, the Eurobarometer survey is subjective. Perceptions often merge with realities but, in politics, perceptions are often even more important than reality.
One unquestionable indicator of this survey is that only over a quarter of those interviewed believe their country would be better off outside the EU while even fewer Maltese believe in this assertion.
The EU is by no means perfect but it enjoys increasing trust and has an improved image with most Europeans.