Economic worries dampen feelings for EU
LUCIA KUBOSOVA
25.06.2008 @ 08:13 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Europeans are increasingly sceptical about the short-term prospect of their national economies, with statisticians interpreting the economic "feel-bad factor" as a reason for the flagging support for EU membership and EU institutions.
A survey by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office based in Luxembourg, published on Tuesday (24 June) and indicating opinions expressed between March and May 2008, showed that 46 percent of respondents expected economic situation in their home country to get worse.
Negative EU sentiments? It's all about the economy, say those interpreting the statistics (Photo: European Commission)
This is a jump of 20 percentage points when compared to autumn 2007.
The biggest fears were expressed by Hungarians with just 8 percent of respondents with an optimistic outlook, followed by Finns (9%), Irish (9%) and Brits (10%), while the Maltese (40%), Poles (30%) and Romanians (30%) had the most positive expectations.
The authors of the report point out that while last year saw 23 member states record falling unemployment rates, two in five Europeans were expecting there to be less available jobs in their country this spring, with Hungarians, Greeks, Portuguese and Irish the most sceptical.
The main reason behind the shift appears to be concern over rising food and fuel prices, a trend increasingly dominating Europe's current political debates.
For the first time, the price hikes were referred to as the main issue facing European countries (37%).
The statisticians argue that European citizens' gloomy outlook for their domestic economies is reflected in EU-related indicators, such as in the "notable drops" in positive views about the bloc's membership or in trust in its institutions.
Overall, 52 percent of respondents argued that their country's membership in the 27-strong club was a "good thing," which is 6 percentage points less than last autumn.
The Dutch (75%), Irish (73%) and Luxembourgers (73%) ranked as most positive, while Latvians (29%), Brits (30%) and Hungarians (32%) feature at the other end of the list.
Similar trends can be seen in Europeans' opinions on the EU's key institutions: some 47 percent of respondents claimed they trust the European Commission, the bloc's executive, which represents a drop by 3 points compared to last autumn.
The European Parliament enjoyed the trust of 52 percent of respondents, also down by 3 points.