Spaniards back the EU 40 years on: 74% believe Spain faces its future better inside it
Madrid – Three out of four Spaniards believe that Spain can face the future and current challenges better within the EU and even think that more decisions should be taken at the European level on the eve of the 40th anniversary of its entry into the bloc, according to the latest Eurobarometer.
Specifically, 74% of those surveyed believe that Spain will be better able to face what is to come if it remains part of the European club, a figure slightly higher than the 68% average among citizens of the Twenty-Seven. Within this percentage, 41% say they totally agree with this statement, compared to 30% of Europeans.
In addition, 77% believe that more decisions should be taken at the EU level, a figure in this case well above the European average of 59%. Here, 37% of Spaniards agree that there must be more decisions at the European level in the current situation, compared to 18% of Europeans.
Along these lines, 79% of Spaniards indicate that the EU conveys a positive or neutral image (38% and 41% respectively), while 20% believe that it gives a negative image. Here too, the result is very similar to the European average, with 80% stating that they have a positive (42%) or neutral (38%) image.
As regards Spaniards’ trust in European institutions, the figure in this case is very similar to the average. Thus, 49% express their trust, three points less than in the spring, compared to 48% at the European level, four points less.
These data show, according to the director of the Representation of the European Commission in Spain, Daniel Calleja, “the solid confidence in the European project” of Spaniards as well as “an unequivocal desire for the EU to move forward with greater determination.”
“Forty years later, Spaniards have not grown tired of being in the EU; on the contrary, they want it to have a greater role,” he summed up during the presentation of the autumn Eurobarometer at the headquarters of the European institutions in Madrid.
In the same vein, the Secretary General for the EU at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Moreno, said that the Eurobarometer demonstrates “the deep Europeanism of Spaniards and their certainty that belonging to this project is infinitely better than a situation of isolation like the one that existed 40 years ago and that there is no other way to face current challenges than with more Europe.”
Satisfaction with democracy in Spain
On the other hand, 51% of Spaniards surveyed say they are satisfied with how democracy works in Spain, a figure similar to that of six months ago, when it stood at 50%, and slightly lower than the European average of 54%.
The Spanish figure is far from the positive assessment of how democracy works in their countries in Denmark (88%), Luxembourg (86%), Sweden (80%), Finland (80%) or Poland (76%), although well above the figure in Greece, which, with 25%, is at the bottom of the list in this area.
“It is a percentage that is not high enough,” Moreno admitted. “We must aspire for Spaniards to have a better assessment of their country’s democracy,” added the Foreign Ministry official, for whom “efforts must be made in that regard.” (December 17)
