79% of respondents to a survey from Malta said that having the euro is a good thing for Malta, while 17% said it is a bad thing, a flash Eurobarometer survey found.
The rest responded with don't know or can't decide.
On behalf of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), Ipsos European Public Affairs interviewed a representative sample of EU citizens, aged 15 and over, in each of the 20 countries of the euro area. Between 7 and 15 October 2024, 18 637 interviews were conducted over the telephone (landline and mobile phones). The survey had 506 respondents from Malta.
In terms of the euro area as a whole, on average 71% believe that having the euro is a good thing for their country, and 22% believe it is a bad thing.
Asked whether they think that the degree to which economic policy, including budgetary policies, is coordinated in the euro area is appropriate, and whether there should be more or less coordination among euro‐area governments, the majority of Maltese respondents said that there should be more coordination (54%.). 30% believe that the current degree is appropriate while 13% believe there should be less coordination. 2% did not know.
As for the financial support during the Covid-19 crisis, 81% of respondents in Malta believe it was good to provide a recovery plan of €650 billion supporting all Member States, through grants and loans, on conditions that they make green, digital and social investments and reforms. This was a higher percentage than the EU average of 68%.
5% of respondents in Malta said it was not a good thing, 11% said they can't decide and 3% didn't know.
The survey also asked how important is it that the government should introduce reforms in a number of areas to help increase growth and employment.
70% of respondents in Malta said that it is very important for the healthcare sector, with 18% saying it is quite important. 4% said not very important. 6% said not at all important and 2% did not answer.
Some of the responses were as follows. Regarding education systems, 65% said very important and 19% said quite important, regarding the labour market 59% said very important and 28% said quite important, regarding the pension system 69% said very important and 20% said quite important, regarding taxation 39% said very important and 41% said quite important.