Romania’s confidence in EU dwindles

49% of the Romanians still support their country's EU membership

Corina Cristea, 19.10.2018, 12:07

Just months ahead of Romania’s first term as holder
of the EU Council presidency, the perception of its citizens regarding the EU
membership is on a downward trend, with the support rate going down from 59% to
49%. It is the sharpest decline in this respect in the European bloc, according
to the latest Eurobarometer released by the European Parliament.

It is no good news, says the Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis, who believes however that the fall is only temporary. As we
know, a nation’s view of the EU membership is generally shaped by domestic issues,
rather than European ones. So, if we manage to solve our issues at home, I
believe Romanians’ attitude towards Europe will return to normal, that is to
over 50%, Iohannis has explained. In fact, the Eurobarometer confirms this
view. In Romania, the turbulent national context that
the country has known since August seems to be affecting its traditionally
higher EU support indicators too. Romania is shaken by various protests against
the government to denounce corruption and the judiciary overhaul. The national
discontent seems to reflect on the perception Romanian respondents expressed
about the EU in this survey, illustrated in the decreasing indicators showed
below, the report reads.

The temporary nature of this perception is
perfectly plausible, given that 65% of the Romanians say they would vote
against Romania’s leaving the Community, if a referendum were held on this
topic. At EU level, the average support rate for EU membership is 62%, up 2%
since April. The survey also shows that 21% of the Romanians believe the
country’s EU membership is a bad thing, whereas the European average for this
indicator is 11%. Also, 64% of the Romanians say the EU accession benefited
their country, as opposed to a 68% European average. According to 13% of the
Romanians, the main benefit of EU accession was that the bloc contributed to
strengthening democracy in their own country. On the other hand, half of
Romania’s citizens support a European economic and monetary union, with the Euro
as a single currency. As for the topics on which next year’s campaign for the
European Parliament elections should focus, Romanians say protection of
external borders is the most important issue for them.