Only 53% of Romanians believe that Romania’s membership of the EU is a good thing, according to the 2016 Parlemeter released by the European Parliament.

The figure is equal to the EU28 average but is 11 percentage points lower than the one registered in 2015. Thus, Romania has registered the second steepest decrease in support for the EU, after Greece – minus 14 percentage points.

The 2016 Parlemeter was carried out in the 28 EU Members States between September 24 and October 3, on more than 27,700 people.

The survey also shows that the number of Romanians who believe that Romania’s EU membership is a bad thing has increased by 9 percentage points year-on-year, reaching 17% in 2016. Meanwhile, 29% believe that the EU membership is neither a good thing nor a bad thing for Romania.

A total of 64% of Romanians think that their country has benefited from being a member of the EU, down 8 percentage points compared to the previous year. The European average stayed at 60%. Greece again registered the highest decrease – minus 12 percentage points, to 44%.

When it comes to why Romania has benefited from being an EU Member State, 27% of those who said the country did benefit from this membership said that this has happened because the EU contributes to the economic growth in Romania (the figure being similar to the one registered in September 2015), 44% said that Romania benefited because the EU brings people new work opportunities (down 4 percentage points), and only 15% stated that the benefit comes from the fact that the EU improves the cooperation between Romania and the other countries (down 4 percentage points).

When compared to last year, the number of Romanians who believe that things are going in the wrong direction in the EU has increased by 19 percentage points this year, to 40%. However, the number of those who think that things are going in the wrong direction in Romania is even higher – 60%.

A total of 38% of Romanians also believe that their voice counts in the EU, the figure being slightly higher than the number of those who think that their voice counts in their home country – 32%.

The survey also shows that 16% of Romanians believe that a President of the EU elected directly by the citizens of all Member States would best strengthen their feeling of being a European citizen, and 25% think having a European ID card in addition to national ID cards would make them feel more European.

Meanwhile, the number of Romanians who have a positive image about the European Parliament has increased by 2 percentage points, to 38%. The figure is much higher than the EU28 average of 25%.

Find the full Parlemeter 2016 report here.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com