Eurobarometer: 54 percent of Romanians think EU membership is a good thing

A total of 54 percent of Romanians believe that EU membership is a good thing, slightly less than the EU average of 57 percent. However, the data revealed by the latest Eurobarometer shows that the attitude of the inhabitants of EU countries is the same as it was before the crisis that debuted in 2007.

A total of 73 percent of respondents prefer the European Union to find a common answer to the latest geopolitical events such as the growing instability in the Arab-Muslim World (53 percent in Romania, compared to 73 percent in the EU), the growing power and influence of Russia (57 percent in Romania, compared to 71 percent in the EU), that of China (55 percent in Romania, compared to 71 percent in the EU), Brexit (51 percent in Romania, compared to 63 percent in the EU), or the election of Donald Trump (64 percent in the EU, compared to 48 percent in Romania), rather than for individual Member States to conduct individual initiatives.

A large majority is also asking that the EU make more efforts to face current challenges, such as the fight against terrorism (78 percent in Romania, 80 percent in the EU), bankruptcy (78 percent in Romania and 78 percent in Romania), environment protection (76 percent in Romania, 75 percent in the EU) and the fight against tax fraud (79 percent in Romania and 74 percent in the EU).

An increasing number of Europeans (43 percent in the EU, 45 percent in Romania), believe that their voices matter at a European level, more than any other year since 2007 and until now, with 6 percent more compared to last year. In Romania’s case, the increase is of over 7 percent compared to last year. A total of 63 percent of Europeans and 48 percent of Romanians believe their voice is heard at a national level.

Ultimately, a major part of Romanians (84 percent in the EU, 74 percent in Romania) believe that inequalities between social classes are significant, while one third of them believe that the crisis will continue for many years.

The fieldwork for this Eurobarometer survey of the European Parliament, conducted by Kantar Public through face-to-face meetings with 27, 901 EU citizens, was carried out between 18 and 27 March 2017.