Standard Eurobarometer 86 National report Public opinion in the European … · 2017-04-07 · Public opinion in the European Union Autumn 2016 National report Malta Standard Eurobarometer

Standard Eurobarometer 86

This survey has been requested and co-ordinated by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication.

This report was produced for the European Commission’s Representation in Malta.

This document does not represent the point of view of the European Commission. The interpretations and opinions contained in it are solely those of the authors.

Standard Eurobarometer 86 – Wave EB86.2 – TNS opinion & social

Public opinion in the European Union

National report

Malta

Autumn 2016


National report

PUBLIC OPINION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

MALTA

http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/PublicOpinion

This survey has been requested and co-ordinated by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication.

This report was produced for the European Commission’s Representation in Malta.

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Public opinion in the European Union Autumn 2016

National report Malta


TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 2

KEY FINDINGS 2

I. PRIORITIES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSSION 3

1 Jobs, Growth and Investments 3

2 Digital Single Market 4

3 Energy Union 5

4 Free movement of persons 5

5 Economic and Monetary Union 6

6 EU - US Trade 6

7 Migration 6

8 The EU as a global actor 7

9 Democratic change 7

II. PERCEPTIONS ON OWN PERSONAL SITUATION 9

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INTRODUCTION

The national report outlines the main findings of Wave 86 of the Standard Eurobarometer. Fieldwork was conducted between the 5th and 14th November 2016. A total of 515 face – to – face interviews were conducted. In 2016, the Maltese economy has continued to perform well with strong growth in the gross domestic product and in employment. The positive economic performance is likely to have had an impact on the responses of participants. There were no elections held during 2016. The report covers a number of topics, namely the priorities of the European Commission and respondents’ perceptions on their personal situation.

KEY FINDINGS

This wave of the Eurobarometer has shown once more that respondents in Malta are very positive about the EU and what the EU stands for. The only exception to this is a common foreign policy for the 28 member states of the EU. Moreover, the strong performance of the economy encourages them to look more positively at their personal situation. There is evidently a concern about the environment in relation to energy issues. Another area of concern is migration from outside the EU.

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I. PRIORITIES OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

1. Jobs, Growth and Investments 81% of respondents in Malta judge the current situation of the national economy to be positive, down from 85% in 2015 and at the same level as in the first half of 2016. In line with previous years, Germany registers a more positive result. Luxembourg was the country which registered the highest positive rating. Across the EU, the percentage of those that rate their national economy positively increased marginally and stands at 41%.

Male respondents in Malta tend to have a more positive opinion of the national economy than females, while persons aged under 25 years tend to have a more negative opinion than persons aged 25 years and over.

The judgment of respondents in Malta on the EU economy remained fairly stable. 24% claimed that the situation of the European economy is bad, similar to previous waves. However, the number of respondents that claimed to have a more positive opinion on the EU economy stood at 44% compared to 49% at the beginning of 2016.

Respondents in Malta are also generally positive about what the EU is doing to create jobs. In fact, 75% believe that EU is creating the conditions for more jobs in Europe, while 16% disagree with such a view. In the whole of the EU, opinions are more evenly split with 48% having a positive opinion on such an aspect, while 43% have a negative opinion.

Moreover 85% of respondents in Malta believe that the EU makes doing business easier in Europe. The relative percentage for the whole of the EU is 70%. There is the belief that the private sector is better placed than the public sector to create new jobs. 78% of respondents in Malta agree with this pint of view, even though 72% of respondents believe that public money should be used to stimulate private sector investment in Europe. On this latter point the views in the whole of the EU are not so strong.

Other questions covering this priority area included opinion on targets set by the EU on specific areas. In all aspects the views of respondents in Malta did not deviate significantly from the average views across the whole of the EU. However, in all elements there is an increased percentage who believe that such targets are too ambitious.

28% of respondents in Malta claimed that the EU objective of having three-quarters of men and women between 20 and 64 years of age in a job by 2020 to be too ambitious, while 57% claimed it to be about right. 51% of respondents claimed that the target to have expenditure on research and development at 3% of the wealth produced in the EU each year is about right, while 13% claimed that it is too ambitious.

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49% believe that the objective of having the number of young people leaving school with no qualifications to fall to 10% to be about right, while 31% claimed that it is too ambitious. Another target is that at least 40% of persons aged 30 – 34 years should have a higher education degree or diploma. 40% believe that such a target is too ambitious while 44% believe it is just about right.

45% of respondents in Malta believe that the target for the number of Europeans living below the poverty line to be reduced by a quarter by 2020 is about right while 37% believe it is too ambitious. The last objective in this area is to bring industry’s contribution to the economy to 20% of the gross domestic product by 2020. 39% believe it is about right while 18% believe it is too ambitious.

2. Digital Single Market Another priority area for the European Commission is the digital single market. There is an increasing percentage of respondents who are in favour of a digital single market in the EU. 68% of respondents in Malta expressed a favourable opinion while only 6% expressed a negative opinion. 26% did not express an opinion. This is a marked increase when compared to previous waves of the Eurobarometer.

The percentage of those expressing a favourable opinion on the digital single market is higher than the EU average. Across the EU, this percentage stands at 59%.

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3. Energy Union

80% of respondents in Malta are in favour of a common energy policy among EU member states, while only 7% are against it. Across the EU the percentage of respondents who are in favour of a common energy policy is 73%. Females and persons aged under 25 years are two population segments which are less favourable towards a common energy policy .

Respondents in Malta were also generally supportive of the European Commission’s targets for 2020 in the energy sector, even if the level of support is decreasing. 57% believe that the objective to reduce EU greenhouse emissions by at least 20% by 2020 when compared to 1990, to be about right. 59% of respondents believe that the target to increase the share of renewable energy in the EU by 20% by 2020 to be about right, while 62% believe that the target to increase energy efficiency by 20% by 2020 to be about right. Generally respondents in Malta are more positive about these targets than the EU average.

The environment features quite highly in the expectations of respondents in Malta on what should be the priorities in a European Energy Union. Protection of the environment was the priority that received most mentions at 47%. This was followed by guaranteeing reasonable energy prices for consumers (37%) and developing renewable energy (36%). These three elements also received the highest number of mentions across the EU as a whole.

4. Free Movement of Persons The free movement of EU citizens who can live, work, study and do business anywhere in the EU is judged to be a good thing by 84% of respondents in Malta. In the whole of the EU, 81% believe that such a thing is positive.

This view was then confirmed in another two questions. 75% of respondents in Malta believe that the right for every EU citizen to live in every member state in the EU is a positive thing. 74% believe that the right for every EU citizen to work in every member state in the EU is a positive thing. Views in the whole of the EU are at a similar level as in Malta.

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The level of support for the free movement of persons drops slightly both in Malta and in the whole of the EU, when it comes to the right for every EU citizen to work and live in the respondents’ own country.

The freedom to travel, study and work anywhere in the EU was the aspect that received most mentions, both at EU level and in Malta, when respondents were asked what the EU meant to them personally.

5. Economic and Monetary Union Support in Malta for a European economic and monetary union with a single currency, the euro, is quite high at 77%. It is to be noted that the level of support is increasing in Malta. The level of support for a European economic and monetary union in the euro zone is 70% while the level of support in the non-euro zone is 33%.

6. EU – US Trade

Support for the free trade and investment agreement between the European Union and the United States of America is still quite high, with 69% expressing a favourable opinion about it. In the EU as a whole the percentage of respondents in favour of such an agreement stands at 53%.

7. Migration 70% of respondents in Malta are in favour of a European policy on migration. However this level is lower than it was in 2015, when it stood at 75%. In fact this is a continuation of a downward trend in the level of support. The current level of support in Malta for a common policy on migration is similar to that across the whole of the EU, where it stands at 69%.

Immigration from outside the European Union evokes a negative feeling for more than two out of three respondents. In fact 69% expressed such an opinion. This is lower than the level expressed in 2015. Across the whole of the EU, 56% claimed that immigration from outside the EU evokes a negative opinion. This is further reflected in the fact that 95% of respondents in Malta believe that more additional measures need to be taken to fight irregular immigration of people from outside the EU. More than half of these believe that the action needs to be taken at an EU level.

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The negative perceptions about immigrants from outside the EU are confirmed by the view that only 36% of respondents in Malta believe that immigrants contribute a lot to the country. Yet the element of solidarity emerges as 79% believe that Malta should do more to help refugees.

Immigration from inside the EU is not perceived so negatively by respondents in Malta. In fact for 60% it evokes a positive feeling while across the EU it evokes a positive feeling for 61%. On this particular aspect there is a continuation of an upward trend when compared to previous waves.

8. The EU as a global actor The position of the EU as a global actor can be assessed through a number of elements all of which contribute thereto. These are having a common foreign policy, enlargement, support for a common defence and security policy, the ability of the EU to face global challenges and to defend the economic interests of Europe, and perceptions on whether the voice of the EU counts in the world..

Support for a common foreign policy of the 28 member states of the EU is high across the whole of the EU. In fact two out of three respondents (66%) claimed to be in favour, with only 25% having a negative opinion. Support in Malta is noticeably lower at 54%, with 31% expressing a negative opinion.

An important element of the EU being a global actor is through further enlargement. Even on this aspect there is a divergence of opinion between views expressed by respondents in Malta and views expressed across the EU. 60% of respondents in Malta are in favour of further enlargement of the EU to include other countries in future years, with only 23% expressing a negative opinion. In the whole of the EU support for further enlargement was expressed by 39% of respondents, while negative support was expressed by 51% of respondents. Croatia, Lithuania and Romania were the only countries to express a higher level of support than Malta. Support for enlargement in the original six member states that set up the EU is down to 29%.

On the other hand a common defence and security policy among the EU member states is high at 75% for the whole of the EU. This is at the same level as that expressed by respondents in Malta.

70% of respondents in Malta believe that the EU is going in the right direction to exit the crisis and face new global challenges. Only Lithuania, Finland and Sweden express a more positive opinion. In the whole of the EU, those expressing such a favourable opinion stands at 46%. Those expressing a negative opinion in Malta on this aspect stands at just 8%.

Belief in the ability of the EU to defend the economic interests of Europe in the global economy is not so high. In Malta, 50% of respondents expressed a favourable opinion, while in the EU as a whole the percentage stands at 45%.

More than four out of five respondents in Malta (81%) believe that the voice of the EU counts in the world. Only in Poland, Sweden and Luxembourg has a higher level of respondents expressed this opinion. In the whole of the EU, 69% of respondents believe that the voice of the EU counts in the world.

9. Democratic change Respondents in Malta are generally positive about the way democracy works in the country. 64% of respondents claimed to be either very satisfied or fairly satisfied on this issue. The comparative data for the EU as a whole is 53%.

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The opinion across the EU on the way democracy works in the EU is evenly split. 45% of respondents claimed to be very satisfied or fairly satisfied, and another 45% claimed to be not so satisfied or not at all satisfied. The opinions in Malta are more definite, with 57% of respondents claiming to be very satisfied or fairly satisfied. The level of dissatisfaction in Malta with the way democracy works in the EU, is the second lowest , with only Poland expressing a lower level of dissatisfaction.

With regards to two related questions whether respondents believe that their voice counts in their country and in the EU, 64% of respondents in Malta claimed that their voice counts in the country, while the percentage across the whole of the EU stands at 57%. In relation to the EU, 49% of local respondents believe that their voice counts in the EU, compared to 40% in the whole of the EU.

Another aspect of democratic change is whether people feel they are well informed or not about European matters. In the EU as a whole only 28% of respondents believe that people in their country are well informed on the EU as a whole. In the Malta the percentage stands at 43%. A question was then asked as to how much respondents feel they themselves are well informed about EU matters. 53% of respondents in Malta claimed that they are well informed of EU matters. In the whole of the EU the percentage stands at 38%.

Table 1 below provides information on the percentage of respondents who stated that they are in favour of selected initiatives.

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Malta European Union

A European economic and monetary union with one single currency, the euro

77% 58%

A common foreign policy for the 28 member states of the EU

54% 66%

Further enlargement to include countries in future years

60% 39%

A common defence and security policy among EU member states

75% 75%

A free trade and investment agreement between the EU and USA

69% 53%

A common European policy on migration 70% 69%

A common energy policy among EU member states 80% 73%

A digital single market within the EU 68% 59%

The free movement of EU citizens who can live, work, study and do business anywhere in the EU

84% 81%

II. PERCEPTIONS ON OWN PERSONAL SITUATION

The second part of this report deals with the respondents’ own perceptions of their personal situation. A number of aspects have been researched, including how satisfied respondents are about their life in general, their personal job situation, the financial situation of their household, their expectations about their life, the financial situation of their household and their personal job situation for the next twelve months, the two most important issues they are facing at the moment, and their quality of life.

94% of respondents in Malta are generally satisfied with the life they lead. Denmark. Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden are the only countries that registered a more positive score than Malta. The relative percentage for the whole of the EU is 82%. 41% of respondents in Malta expect their life to get better in the next twelve months, 6% expect it to get worse while 48% expect it to remain the same.

Just over two out of three respondents (67%) claimed their personal job situation to be positive. Only 7% declared a negative opinion on this aspect. In the whole of the EU 22% stated that their personal job situation is bad. In terms of expectations, 24% of respondents in Malta expect their personal job situation to get better in the next twelve months, 4% expect it to get worse, while 48% expect it to remain the same.

The financial situation of their household has been described as good by 82% of respondents in Malta, while 15% described it as bad. In the whole of the EU, 28% of respondents described the financial situation of their household as bad. Expectations for the future are more positive than negative with 25% expecting the financial situation of their household to get better in the next twelve months, 7% expecting it to get worse, while 64% expecting it to remain the same.

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Respondents were presented with a set of issues and were asked to choose the two most important ones that they are facing at the moment. Rising prices, cost of living and inflation was the issue that received most mentions (31%), followed by pensions (16%) and environment, climate and energy issues (15%).

In relation to their quality of life, 52% of respondents in the whole of EU believe that it was better before. In Malta 47% of respondents believe that it was better before, but only 45% do not agree with this point of view.

Documents

Standard Eurobarometer 86 National report Public opinion in the European … · 2017-04-07 · Public opinion in the European Union Autumn 2016 National report Malta Standard Eurobarometer