2023-12-06 10:59:00
This is the lowest and highest value among all 27 EU member states. Of all EU citizens surveyed, 61 percent see their country’s membership as a good thing.
The EU approval ratings in Italy (43 percent) and the Czech Republic (44 percent) are only slightly better than in Austria. Approval is highest in Luxembourg at 86 percent. At least 55 percent of the Austrians surveyed believe that EU membership has benefited the country overall – here too, the lowest figure in all of Europe. In Lithuania, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta this was over 90 percent each.
Austrians are still feeling the effects of the decisions made in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg. Almost three quarters of those surveyed in this country said that the EU influences their everyday life. Across the EU, 70 percent saw it that way.
The EU Parliament survey was published exactly six months to the day before the European elections. The probability of voting has increased compared to the last election – both in the EU and in Austria. The probable participation is calculated here at 68 or 66 percent. This corresponds to the proportion of respondents who rate their personal likelihood of voting as seven or more on a scale of one to ten. In the last EU election in 2019, voter turnout in Austria was almost 60 percent.
However, higher voter turnout does not mean that voters want a stronger role for the EU Parliament. In Austria, only 38 percent of those surveyed do this, compared to 39 percent who would like the European parliament to play a less important role (the remaining percent are divided into the answer options “same role” and “don’t know”). Participants in Estonia, Denmark and the Czech Republic were even more negative. In Cyprus, however, 86 percent would like the European Parliament to have more influence.
“Alarming but not surprising”
The island state in the Mediterranean also had the highest score (77 percent) when asked whether its own standard of living had deteriorated and whether it was expected to continue to decline. In Austria, 44 percent of those surveyed answered this question in the affirmative. In total, 26,523 people over 15 across the EU were surveyed for this Eurobarometer survey.
NEOS MEP Claudia Gamon described the survey results in Austria as “alarming, but not particularly surprising”. In the coming years we will need people who will fight for European values with full commitment. “That’s why we invite everyone who wants to make Europe more capable of making decisions, more capable of acting and, last but not least, more capable of defending itself, to run in our open primary for a place on our list for the EU elections on June 9th.” Gamon: “We have a responsibility not to be the last generation of Europe.”
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