Only 49% of Romanian citizens surveyed in a recent Eurobarometer believe that the country’s membership in the European Union is a good thing, down from 59% in the April Eurobarometer.

A lower share was reported only in October 2017, when only 48% of Romanians saw their country’s EU membership as a good thing, local G4media.ro reported.

At EU level, 62% of citizens see their country's EU membership as positive, a record level of the last 25 years.

Meanwhile, 64% of Romanian citizens (down from 71% in April 2018) believe that their country has benefited from the EU membership. AT EU level, 68% of respondents believe the same thing, the highest level since 1983.

Overall, EU support has increased significantly since the UK referendum in 2016. This may suggest both the growing concern of Europeans about the impact of Brexit and an increase in the awareness of the benefits of EU membership, due to the difficult negotiations for Britain's exit from the EU. In the event of a referendum on EU membership, 66% of Europeans (65% of Romanians) would vote for their country to remain a member.

The Eurobarometer also showed that 49% of Europeans (51% of Romanians) are pleased with the way democracy works in the European Union.

When it comes to the European elections in 2019, the survey shows that the level of information and interest has increased. 41% of Europeans, compared with 32% in April 2018 (53% of Romanians, compared with 43% in April 2018) answered correctly to the question about the election date, identifying May 2019 as the period when the elections will take place. Meanwhile, 51% of Europeans, compared with 50% in April 2018 (57% of Romanians, compared with 55% in April 2018) are interested in the polling next May.

Kantar Public conducted the survey in the period September 8-26, 2018, using the face-to-face interview method. More than 27,000 people in the EU participated in the survey (1,007 in Romania).

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Pixabay.com)