“TRUST IN THE EU INCREASING, TRUST IN NATIONAL ECONOMIES DECREASING”

“28% OF PEOPLE IN TURKEY ARE IN FAVOUR OF EU MEMBERSHIP”

The EU’s official statistics institution Eurostat published its latest Eurobarometer opinion poll for Autumn 2014 where it evaluates the views of citizens towards Europe and on EU policies in both Member States and Candidate States. The report has been published since 1973 twice a year.

According to the results of the opinion poll which was conducted in November 2014 with 1000 people from both Member States and Candidate States, the broad reputation of the EU has been improving, and the trust towards the EU and the future of the EU shows an increasing trend. Unemployment and the current economic situation still remain among the most important sources of concern for the EU citizens; as such trust in the national economies is decreasing in many Member States. According to the poll, trust in the national economy in Greece only accounts to 2%.

According to the results of the opinion poll, there are also interesting findings for Turkey. According to the poll, only 28% of the Turkish public believe that EU membership is “good”, whilst 39% of them believe the opposite. Similarly, only 36% of the Turkish public believe that EU membership shall provide benefits for their country, whilst 54% of them believe the contrary.

“PUBLIC OPINION OF THE EU IS IMPROVING”

According to the poll, the image of the Union in Member States is increasing compared to the previous report.

Whilst 39% of Europeans are describing the EU’s image as being positive, 22% of them believe the contrary. As for 37% of the European public, they prefer to remain “neutral” in that respect.

More interestingly is the improving trend in the EU’s image. According to the previous report, there is a 4% increase in those that evaluate the EU’s image as being positive; correspondingly, there is a 3% decrease in those that evaluate the EU’s reputation as being negative.

On a country basis, Member States where the EU’s image is at its highest are, respectively, Poland (61%), Romania (59%) and Ireland (53%). Comparatively, Member States where the EU’s image is at its lowest are, respectively, Austria (36%), Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus (38%) and Greece (44%).

“TRUST IN THE EU AND ITS FUTURE IS INCREASING”

According to the results of the opinion poll, there is an increase in trust towards the EU in Member States. When one compares to the previous report where trust towards the EU accounted to 31%, the latest report shows a 6%  increase and thus trust towards the EU has reached 37%.  Similarly, whilst those that are optimistic for the future of the EU remain in the same level (56%); those that are pessimistic show a 1% decrease (from 38% to 37%).

On a country basis, trust towards the EU shows a similar trend with the EU’s image. Member States that are the most pessimistic for the EU’s future are, respectively, Greece (60%) and Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus (54%). Comparatively, those are the most optimistic are, respectively, Ireland (78%), Malta (75%) and Poland (74%).

“UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS THE NUMBER ONE SOURCE OF CONCERN FOR EUROPEANS”

According to the results of the opinion poll, unemployment remains as a general source of concern at the national level. Almost one out of two EU citizens describes unemployment as the most important concern (45%). The current economic situation and immigration are, respectively, with 24% and 18% sources of concern that follow unemployment.

On a country basis, 79% of GASC citizens and 78% of Spanish citizens perceive unemployment as the most important concern. Portugal, Croatia and France are following these countries in that assessment.

At the EU level, there is hardly any difference in the general preoccupation of Europeans: whilst the current economic situation remains the single most important source of concern at the EU level (33%), unemployment comes as second (29%).

“THERE IS NO TRUST IN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY REMAINING IN GREECE”

Another striking result of the poll is in the level of trust towards the national economies. According to the poll, whilst 63% of citizens at the EU level believe that the national economies are in decline, trust towards the national economy in Greece only accounts to 2%. The ratio for trust in national economies is below 10% in 8 Member States (Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, GASC, Italy, France and Slovenia).

Furthermore, the view that EU citizens hold on perspectives on the economy for 2015 are indeed very pessimistic: whilst only 22% of EU citizens believe that the national economies will improve; 45% of them believe that the situation will broadly stay unchanged and 28% believe that the situation is in fact going to worsen.

“ONLY ONE OUT OF FOUR TURKISH CITIZENS BELIEVE THAT TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP IS GOOD”

The data for Turkey includes interesting features in the poll.

According to the poll, whilst only 28% of the Turkish public believe that Turkey’s EU membership is actually “good”, those that believe the contrary account for 39%. When compared to the previous report, there is a 10% decrease among Turkish citizens in those that believe that EU membership is “good” for Turkey.

When those figures are compared to other candidate countries, the rate of those that believe that EU membership is “good” in Turkey accounts for the lowest level of support. Whilst Albania tops the list of candidate states of those that believe that EU membership is “good” with 76%, it is followed, respectively, by Macedonia (53%), Montenegro (49%), Serbia (39%) and Iceland (37%).

“THOSE THAT BELIEVE TURKEY IS GOING TO BENEFIT FROM EU MEMBERSHIP ARE DECREASING”

The ratio of those that believe Turkey is going to benefit from EU membership remains very low. According to the poll, whilst only 36% of the Turkish public believe that their country is going to benefit from EU membership, 54% of them believe the contrary. Thus, Turkey shows the lowest ratio for that parameter among other candidate countries.

Another interesting data in that respect, when compared to the previous report, is the fact that there is a 14% decrease in those that believe that Turkey is going to benefit from EU membership.

For more information on the Eurobarometer Autumn 2014 report, please go to the following link.