The latest Eurobarometer Survey shows that Maltese have a higher level of trust in political parties than in the written media.
A total of 503 face-to-face interviews were conducted over a span of several days last November with people residing in Malta and aged 15 years or over, and when asked of their trust levels in various institutions, more people said that they tend to trust political parties than they tend to trust the written media.
The report notes that 36% of respondents said that they trust political parties (compared to an 18% EU average) while 32% of respondents said that they trust the written media (compared to a 47% EU average). Furthermore, 63% of respondents said that they trusted the Maltese government, 59% said that they trusted the Maltese parliament and 56% said that they trusted the European Union.
Comparatively, an average of 35% of respondents in other countries trusted their national governments and parliament whilst 42% trusted the EU.
Furthermore, 49% of Maltese respondents said that they trusted the judicial system, 68% said that they trusted the police force and 77% said that they trusted the army – with the army being the institution that has garnered the most trust out of all those surveyed.
In terms of the media; the survey lists television as the most trustworthy media outlet (53% respondents said that they trusted it), followed by radio (47%), the internet (39%), the written press (32%), and online social networks (24%).
In terms of sources of news on national political matters, 47% stated that the first source is television, followed by websites mentioned by 26% of respondents. Other sources are online social networks (14%), radio (3%), the written press (2%), and others (2%). 5% claim not to look for news on national political matters. Overall the use of internet as the primary source of news for political matters is at 40%, while the average for the whole of the EU is 21%.
Respondents in Malta make use of websites and online social networks as a primary source of news on national political matters to a much greater extent than the rest of Europe, the survey noted.
Migration cited as biggest national, EU concern for Maltese
Meanwhile, the biggest concern for the Maltese people at a national level was found to be that of migration, with the concern being seen as a challenge not only for Malta but also for the whole of the European Union.
When the respondents were asked about what concerns them at a national level, half of them said that migration was a source of worry. Similarly, 61% of the respondents listed migration as a challenge for the EU.
At national level, 29% of respondents listed housing as a major concern, followed by the environment, climate and energy issues (28%), crime (19%), and rising prices and inflation (19%).
At EU level meanwhile, 27% of respondents mentioned terrorism as a challenge that the EU was facing whilst the environment (11%), the public finances of member states (11%), and crime (10%) were also all mentioned.
96% of Maltese are satisfied with the lives they lead
The survey also shows that 96% of Maltese respondents are very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the life they lead, which is 13% higher than the average for the whole of the European Union.
96% of them were very positive regarding their personal and economic situations. This places Malta level with Denmark, Luxembourg and Sweden, and just 1% lower than Ireland – which tops the public satisfaction rankings. At the other end of the spectrum, the three countries with the least public satisfaction were found to be Greece (49%), Bulgaria (49%), and Romania (56%).
95% of respondents stated that the current economic situation of Malta is either very good or rather good. 3% described it as very bad or rather bad, while 2% did not express an opinion. This level is the highest obtained among all the member states.
In fact, the average percentage of respondents who described their national economy to be very good or rather good for the whole of the EU is 49%, while 48% described it to be very bad or rather bad.
Similarly, 94% described the employment situation in Malta to be very good or rather good, again the highest among all the 28 member states. 4% described it as rather bad or very bad, while 2% did not express an opinion.
On the whole, 35% of respondents in Malta stated that things in the EU are generally going in the right direction while 14% said that they were going in the wrong direction.
In contrast, respondents across the EU are not as favourable about the EU as they are in Malta, as – at EU level – 29% stated that things were going in the right direction while 51% stated that they were going in the wrong direction.
In terms of expectations, 63% of respondents in Malta are very optimistic or fairly optimistic about the future of the EU, compared to 58% across the 28 member states. For 43% of Maltese respondents, the EU conjures up a very positive or fairly positive image, the same level as in the whole of the EU.