Maltese citizens believe EU should have greater inancial means to tackle pandemic – survey

69% of Maltese believe that the EU should have greater financial means to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, an EU Parliamentary survey found.

The European Parliament yesterday released the full results of its third survey this year, asking European citizens their views on the Covid-19 crisis and their attitudes towards the European Union. Although 50% of Europeans feel ‘uncertainty’ again as their key emotional state as the economic impact of the pandemic takes its toll, more people now have a positive image of the EU than in the Spring. In Malta this is reflected, with uncertainty being the dominant sentiment for 44%.

With an increasing number of EU citizens feeling uncertain about their future, two thirds of respondents (66%) agreed that the EU should have more competences to deal with the pandemic. The Maltese are strongly in favour of this (87%).

In addition, a majority of respondents (54%) think that the EU should have greater financial means to tackle the consequences of the pandemic. In Malta, public opinion is more strongly in favour of this, rising seven points to 69%.

However, it is of the utmost importance to EU citizens that EU funds only go to Members States with a functioning judicial system and a robust respect of shared European democratic values. More than three-quarters of EU respondents (77%) agree that the EU should only provide funds to Member States conditional upon their government’s implementation of the rule of law and of democratic principles. Even more Maltese agree with this (79%).

“Public health should be the key spending priority for 54% of EU respondents, followed by economic recovery and new opportunities for businesses (42%), climate change and environmental protection (37%) as well as employment and social affairs (35%).”

Malta, at 58%, is seventh amongst the 18 Member States where respondents consider public health the highest spending priority when it comes to the EU budget, and the least likely (at 25%) to favour that spending should focus on economic recovery and new opportunities for businesses, followed by Luxembourg at 29%.

Attitudes towards the EU by EU citizens in general have become more positive in comparison with the first survey in April/May this year. The proportion of respondents who hold a positive image of the EU has increased steadily, from only 31% in April 2020 to 41% in the present survey. However, a majority of respondents remain dissatisfied with the solidarity, or lack thereof, between EU Member States. This is not the case in Malta where a majority of Maltese (52%), are satisfied with the solidarity among Member States in fighting Covid-19.

Around half of EU respondents (49%) say they are satisfied with the measures their government has taken so far against the coronavirus pandemic, while a similar proportion (48%) are not satisfied. Attitudes EU-wide have become more negative since the last wave of the survey, with a fall in satisfaction with government measures. In Malta, where satisfaction is above the EU average at 62%, it has also decreased.

EU-wide, more than a third of respondents (39%) say that the Covid-19 pandemic has already impacted on their personal income - this figure is higher in Malta at 43%. A further 27% of EU respondents say that they expect such an impact on their finances in the future, with 23% of Maltese expecting this.