That energy is Malta’s main national concern is hardly surprising, considering the utility tariffs saga; what is particularly striking however, is the significant gap between Malta’s score and that registered in other EU countries in the latest report of the Eurobarometer public opinion survey carried out between October and November last year.

Energy is one of the highest scoring issues of concern in Malta (24 per cent); it is also the only score above 10 per cent in the EU.

The Eurobarometer report shows that inflation is the main concern in Malta (41 per cent), and the second highest scoring issue in Romania (39 per cent).

Immigration (34 per cent) is the second highest scoring issue in Malta; it is not a main issue in any of the other EU countries. Energy follows immigration as an issue of concern in Malta.

As observed in previous surveys, the environment is rarely seen as an important national concern. The highest scores for this topic were recorded in Sweden (20 per cent), Denmark (16 per cent) and France (10 per cent). The same observation applies to energy, and Malta is the exception in this regard.

The Eurobarometer also found that in every country, apart from Malta and Cyprus, expectations regarding the EU and world economies are now more positive than they were last spring.

The impact of the crisis is still felt more strongly in central and Eastern European countries. In some of these countries, and even in Malta, the change index records large negative shifts.

The perception that national governments are best able to take effective measures against the effects of the crisis ranges from just six per cent in the Czech Republic to 39 per cent in Malta.

Apart from Malta, it is the most widely expressed view in five other countries: Romania (38 per cent), Bulgaria (32 per cent), Ireland (29 per cent), Austria and the UK (21 per cent in both countries).

In Malta, an equal proportion of respondents believe “reinforcing the rights of consumers” and “stimulating research and innovation” (33 per cent in both cases) is a priority.

As happened in the survey carried out last spring, respondents in Slovakia were the most likely to express trust in the European Parliament (71 per cent), which is surprising considering the Eastern European country had the lowest turnout at the 2009 European Parliament elections (19.6 per cent).

The UK has the lowest trust levels (25 per cent), while Latvia has the highest (41 per cent).

Trust has increased significantly in the Czech Republic compared to the spring 2009 survey); trust increased slightly in Portugal and Luxembourg, and it decreased slightly in Malta.

The Eurobarometer survey also showed that optimism about the future has declined slightly in Malta, Cyprus, Ireland and Lithuania.