The percentage of Romanians who consider the EU membership to be a good thing has dropped from 54% in March this year to just 48% in October, according to a survey conducted by Kantar Public for the European Parliament.
The share of those who believe it is a bad thing (by 3%, to 18%) or say that this is neither good nor bad (+ 2%, up to 32%).
The EU average is nine percentage points above Romania – 57% of Europeans believe that their country’s EU membership is a good thing, which is close to the level before the financial crisis. Also, only 12% of the Europeans said that the EU membership is a bad thing.
The share of Romanians who believe that the country has benefited from this EU membership is still above the percentage of those who believe that the EU accession is a good thing – 61%, three percentage points below the level registered in March this year.
The main reason why Romanian citizens believe that joining was a good thing is „the access to new professional opportunities”, which most likely refers to the possibility of working abroad:
A paradox – Romania and Lithuania are the only member states where the share of people interviewed who believe their opinion is important in the EU exceeds that of those who believe their voice is important in their home country.
Two observations:
- not only that the percentage of Romanians who believe their voice counts in their country is well below the European average – 37%, compared to 67%, the EU average, but
- the share of those who believe their opinion counts in their country declined from March to September by 11 percentage points
The EP analysis mentions that „the Romanian Government has been changed in June 2017”.
In half a year, the share of those who believe the country is heading in the wrong direction increased by 10 percentage points
Romania ranks among the countries with the highest proportion of people interviewed who are certain that the situation in their country is deteriorating – 62% said the country is heading in the wrong direction.
Only Greeks and Spanish people are more pessimistic and dissatisfied with the developments in their country.
In Romania’s case, the decline at this chapter is noticeable- the October rate is 10 percentage points higher than the rate registered in the March survey this year. Within the time span, Romania has gone through two political crises and a complete change of government (a crisis prolonged by Sorin Grindeanu’s refusal to resign).
On the other hand, the share of those who believe that Romania is heading in a good direction declined – by seven points, to 25%.
European citizens’ priorities
The themes of interest for Romanians, which should appear, in their opinion, as priorities of the EU, are very different from those emphasised by most Europeans.
Priority topics in Romanians’ view:
- workers’ rights (42%, compared to 34%, the European average)
- freedom to travel, work and study in the EU (41% vs. 36%, the EU average)
- the pension system (38%, compared to 34%)
Priority topics for the EU average:
- European rights and freedoms (44%, compared with 33% in Romania)
- the right to travel, work and study in the EU (36%)
- workers’ rights (34%)
Confidence in EU institutions is increasing
- the upward trend in terms of confidence in the EU institutions is confirmed, a trend started last year after the referendum on Brexit
- 57% of Europeans believe that the accession was a good thing for their country, a similar level to the pre-crisis period
- 64% say that their country has benefited from the member state status
- 47% believe their voice counts in the EU, the highest percentage since 2009
