Seven out of ten Romanians (69%) believe that the status of being a member of the European Union brings benefits to Romania, a percentage in line with the EU average, according to the latest Eurobarometer conducted by the European Parliament. The survey also reveals that 75% of Romanians say they would vote if the European elections were to take place within a week, one of the highest percentages in the EU. According to the data, Romanians appreciate the job opportunities brought by the EU, the improvement in the standard of living, and the EU’s contribution to maintaining peace in the region. The Eurobarometer was presented on Wednesday by the European Parliament, six months before the scheduled European elections, which are set to take place between June 6 and June 9, 2024.
The main reasons cited by respondents in Romania regarding these benefits are new job opportunities brought by the EU (42%), improvement in the standard of living (28%), followed by the EU’s contribution to maintaining peace (25%), and cooperation with other European states (25%), as stated in a press release by the European Parliament. For participants across the EU in this survey, the main reasons are the EU’s contribution to maintaining peace and enhancing security (34%) and improving cooperation between EU countries (34%).
Furthermore, the image of the EU among European citizens has remained stable since March of this year: the EU has a positive image among 45% of citizens, a neutral image among 38%, and a negative image among 16%. In Romania, the EU has a positive image among 49% of citizens, a neutral image among 35%, and a negative image among 14%. Moreover, 70% of EU citizens (60% of Romanian citizens) believe that EU actions have an impact on their daily lives. More than a third of EU citizens consider that the fight against poverty and social exclusion (36%) and public health (34%) are the main issues that the European Parliament should prioritize. The next important issues for EU citizens are actions to combat climate change (29%) and support for the economy and the creation of new jobs (29%). Migration and asylum (18%), currently in ninth place, are the issues that have increased by seven percentage points compared to the fall of last year. In the opinion of Romanian citizens participating in the survey, the priorities of the European Parliament should be support for the economy and the creation of new jobs (42%), public health (35%), and the fight against poverty and social exclusion (34%).
The survey also reveals that socio-economic difficulties still affect many Europeans, even though indicators have slightly improved over the last six months, as stated in the European Parliament’s press release. 73% of respondents (6% less than in spring) believe that their standard of living will decrease in the next year. Over a third of Europeans (37%) face difficulties in paying bills sometimes or most of the time, and the percentage of Romanian citizens facing difficulties in paying bills sometimes or most of the time is 57%.
Most Europeans (53%), including Romanian citizens (59%), want the European Parliament to play a more important role, a majority opinion in 21 member states. Most Europeans (57%) are interested in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament, a stable result compared to the spring of 2023 (1 percentage point more), but 6 percentage points higher than in the fall of 2018, at a similar time before the last European elections. Sixty percent of Romanians say they are interested in the European elections in 2024.
68% of the participants in the survey say they could vote if the European elections were to take place in a week – 9% more than in the fall of 2018. Among Romanian citizens who responded to the survey, 75% said they would vote if the European elections were to take place in a week. This places Romania fifth in the EU, after Denmark (86%), the Netherlands (82%), Sweden (80%), and Poland (76%), tied with Greece (75%). Compared to the fall of 2018, when 55% of Romanians said they would vote if the European elections were to take place in a week, there is a 20-percentage point increase, the second-highest in the EU (after Poland, +23 percentage points) and tied with Slovakia. The voter turnout in the 2019 European elections was 51.2% in Romania.
The results of the Eurobarometer “show that both interest in the European elections and the likelihood of voting have increased significantly, especially compared to five years ago,” said the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in a video message transmitted during the presentation of the survey. “The results are very encouraging and support our efforts to increase voter turnout, which is important because democracy can never be taken for granted. In June 2024, let’s protect and preserve it by casting our votes,” she added.