Most Romanians say EU membership is a good thing

Most Romanians believe the country’s EU membership is a good thing, according to the latest Eurobarometer released one year before the European elections.

A share of 59 percent of Romanian respondents rated the country’s membership as ‘a good thing,’ 11 percent more than last year. The most satisfied with their country’s EU membership are the Irish, (81 percent), the Dutch and the German respondents (79 percent). At the opposite end of the scale, only 34 percent of Austrians see their country’s EU membership as a good thing.

When considering every aspect of EU membership, 71 percent of Romanians believe the country has benefited from being a member of the EU. The share is 10 percent higher than last year. Respondents in Ireland (91 percent) and Lithuania (90 percent) are most appreciative of the benefits of their country’s EU membership, while respondents in the UK (53 percent) are the lest satisfied with the benefits brought by their country’s EU membership.

Over two-thirds of respondents (67 percent) are convinced that their country benefits from being a member of the EU, the highest score ever measured since 1983. Also for the first time, a majority of respondents (48 percent) believes their voice counts in the EU.

The Eurobarometer also shows that a majority of respondents continues to be satisfied with the way democracy works in their country (55 percent) and in the EU (46 percent). While respondents from some countries are more satisfied with the workings of democracy in the EU than in their own country, citizens from several larger member states are showing a significantly lower degree of satisfaction with the way democracy works at EU level.

This becomes even clearer when the level of satisfaction with the way democracy works is put in perspective with the countries’ GDP per capita and the countries’ current unemployment rates.