Half of the Maltese electorate want migration and asylum to be discussed as a matter of priority during the electoral campaign for the upcoming European Parliament election according to data published in the latest Eurobarometer.

Meanwhile, 37% of Maltese want the European Union to focus on food security and agriculture to reinforce its position in the world, compared to the 37% of Europeans who chose defence and security as the main focus the EU should focus on to strengthen its position globally.

The results of the final spring Eurobarometer 2024 were published 50 days ahead of the upcoming June European Parliament elections, which gave an insight on the election’s voting indicators and citizens’ priorities in 27 Member States.

26,411 interviews were conducted at European Level in all countries, either face-to-face or via video, between 7 February to 3 March 2024. In Malta, 506 interviews were conducted between 8 February and 28 February 2024.

The Maltese public’s interest in this year’s European elections has increased as compared to the final Eurobarometer conducted before the last elections held in 2019.

68% of Maltese people are interested in this year’s elections, up by 11 percentage points from 2019 results. 60% of EU27 citizens said they were interested.

28% of Maltese said that they were not interested in the elections, down by 13 percentage points from that of 2019.

In Malta, 62% of the respondents know that the next European elections will be held in June of this year, though not all respondents knew the correct date (24%).

Asked how likely they would vote if the next EP elections were to be held next week, 72% of Maltese citizens said that they were likely to vote, while 17% said that they were not.

There was also a slight increase (+3pp) of those who would more likely vote as compared to the 2019 Eurobarometer results.

This is similar to the 71% of European citizens who said that they were likely to vote, while 14% said that they were not likely to vote. 7% of Maltese remained neutral, while 13% of Europeans responded with neutrality.

Broken down socio-demographically, respondents the whole political spectrum (left-right political scale) would be likely to vote. 77% of Maltese aged 55 and over responded that they would be likely to vote, if the EP elections were held next week, while 75% respondents who said the same were aged 25-39.

 

Migration, public health among voters’ top priorities ahead of MEP elections

50% of Maltese respondents named migration and asylum as a topic which should be discussed as a matter of priority during the electoral campaign during the electoral campaign for the next EP elections.

Closely followed in priority was the 41% of Maltese citizens who chose public health as a matter of priority, and 38% said that it should be the fight against poverty and social exclusion.

33% of European respondents want the fight against poverty and social exclusion as priority during the campaign. Moreover, 31% of Europeans believe that the matter of the EU’s defence and security as well as the support to the economy and the creation of new jobs should be a matter of priority. These matters were ranked lower in Malta’s priority list, with 17% and 25% respectively.

33% of Maltese citizens also want action against climate change to be discussed as a matter of priority, the statistics showed.

 

Vast majority believe wars in Ukraine, Middle East make voting even more important

A majority of 81% of Maltese and EU27 citizens feel that the current international and geopolitical context – the ongoing war in Ukraine, situation in the Middle East, and other parts of the world, makes voting in the next elections even more important.

Only 13% of Maltese disagreed, and 15% of Europeans who also disagreed, the Eurobarometer showed.

53% of Maltese and European respondents recognised voting as a high importance to their duty as a citizen, and believe it is important to vote in the EP elections. 29% of Maltese consider it of medium importance, and 15% consider it of low importance. Meanwhile, 36% of Europeans consider voting of medium importance, and 10% believe it is of low importance.

The Eurobarometer showed that 59% of Maltese believe things in the EU are going in the right direction, while 47% of Maltese respondents said that they were going in the wrong direction. 56% responded with ‘neither.’

When asked if things in the country are going in the right or wrong direction, 48% of Maltese respondents said that things are going in the wrong direction. 31% said that things were moving in the right direction. Moreover, 60% of EU27 citizens feel things are going in the wrong direction in their own country, with 27% believing otherwise.

33% of Maltese also said that they expect their living conditions to worsen in a year’s time, while 46% said it will remain the same.

The expectations for the national economy in one year’s time were also negative, with 46% of Maltese respondents thinking this will worsen, while 18% believe it will get better. 28% believe it will remain unchanged.

71% of Maltese respondents also said that they would like to see the European Parliament play a more important role, a slight decrease of two percentage points from the Eurobarometer issued in September/October of last year. The majority of these respondents (96%) are still studying.

77% of Maltese said that they followed European politics, while 61% said that they did not.

Comparatively, 56% of European respondents said they would like to see it play a more important role. 28% of Europeans said they would like the European Parliament to play a less important role, while 15% of Maltese citizens responded the same.

While all Member States said they would like to see the EP play a more important role, Czechia was the only exception, with the majority saying that they would not like to see this happen.

Both Maltese and European respondents said that defending peace should be the most important value the EP should prioritise in the next five years, with 43% and 47% respectively.

The second matter of priority for Europeans is that of democracy (33%), while the Maltese’ second matter to prioritise is the protection of human rights in the EU and worldwide (36%). The third matter of priority for Maltese was that of defending the rule of law, with 28%.

Less than half of Maltese now have a positive view of the EU

45% of Maltese respondents have a positive view of the European Union, a decrease of eight percentage points from the Eurobarometer conducted six months ago. 41% remained neutral, and 14% said they had a negative view of the EU, up by four percentage points.

With regards to the European Parliament, 48% of Maltese had a positive view, and 42% remained neutral. 10% had a negative view of the EP.  Through the sociodemographic breakdown, the study results showed that 64% of the 15-24 age group had a positive view of the EP. 48% who had a positive view of the EP were the 55+ age group, followed by the 25-39 age group with 47%.

47% of European respondents said they had a positive view of the EU, with 36% remaining neutral, and 17% having a negative perception of the EU.

Additionally, 52% of Maltese respondents said that the role of the EU in the world has become more important over the past years, while 35% believe it has stayed the same. 10% of Maltese believe the EU’s role has become less important.

However, 40% of Europeans believe that its role has become more important, and 22% said that it has become less important. 35% of respondents remained neutral.

Maltese voters want EU to focus on food security, Europeans want defence and security to be main focus

With regards to reinforcing its position in the world, Maltese respondents believe the EU should focus on food security and agriculture first (37%), and climate action and emissions reductions (32%).

Aspects related to energy issues, independence, resources and infrastructure, defence and security matters, as well as focus on EU values, including democracy and protecting human rights, all ranked third in Malta’s priority list, with 29%, which are also aspects among the top three in Europeans’ priority list.

When asked if citizens are satisfied with the way democracy works in their countries, 53% of Maltese respondents said that they were not satisfied, while 44% said they were. In comparison, 42% of EU27 citizens said they were not satisfied, while 56% said they were.

Over half of Maltese and European respondents (52%) said that they were satisfied with the way democracy worked in the EU, with 40% and 42% respectively saying that they were not satisfied.

87% of Maltese respondents believe that the EU’s actions have an impact on their daily lives, while only 12% believe that they do not. 73% of EU27 citizens responded that they would say the actions of the EU have an impact on their daily lives.

A large majority (91%) of Maltese citizens believe that Malta has benefited from being a member of the EU, while 7% said that the country has not benefited from membership.

A total of 71% of EU27 respondents believe their country has benefited from EU membership, and 23% said that their country has not.

Most Maltese believe standard of living will decrease of stay the same

When respondents were asked about their expectations over their personal standard of living, 39% of Maltese citizens said they expect their standard of living to decrease over the next five years. 35% said that they expect no changes, and 20% believe it will increase. 6% said that they do not know.

Moreover, 49% of European respondents said that they expected no changes to their standard of living in the coming years, while 32% said that they expect it will decrease. Only 15% expect that their standard of living will increase.

Over the last years, 46% of Maltese respondents said that their standard of living has decreased, with 45% of Europeans saying so.

41% of Maltese said that their standard of living has not changed, while 49% of European respondents said the same.

56% of those who felt that their standard of living has decreased were aged 25 to 39, followed by those aged 55+ (45%) and the 40-54 age group (42%).

69% of Maltese respondents said that they were optimistic about the future of the EU, with 26% expressing a pessimistic view. 61% of European respondents felt optimistic about the EU’s future, with 35% saying they were pessimistic about its future.

Respondents were asked about their opinions about the EU’s response to major crises. A majority of 83% of Maltese respondents and 71% of European ones were not satisfied with how the EU handled migration.

65% of Maltese and 61% of European respondents felt unsatisfied with the EU’s response to climate change, and 58% of both EU27 and Maltese respondents said they were unsatisfied with the EU’s handling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On the other hand, 70% of Maltese were pleased with the EU’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and 54% felt satisfied with the handling of the economic and financial situation.

57% of Maltese respondents were also unsatisfied with the EU’s response to Brexit, with 43% of Europeans expressing dissatisfaction towards this.

Explaining Malta’s results in a media briefing, Misco Director and Founding Partner Lawrence Zammit said that the Maltese generally have a positive perception of the European Union and European Parliament. Addressing the fact that Maltese respondents picked food security and agriculture as a matter of priority for the EU to focus on, Zammit said that this is likely due to increasing food prices, as well as the farmers’ protests ongoing at the time the interviews were conducted.