| | | Optimistic for the future | | -February 17, 2005- | Findings of a GfK survey on the views of the new EU citizens
Nuremberg, 17 February 2005 - The majority of people in the countries which joined the European Union (EU) on 1 May 2004 believe that the increased mobility will also improve their opportunities in terms of jobs and education. However, compared with the infectious optimism of the run-up to EU membership people are no longer quite as optimistic. Many fear future price increases, a lower standard of living, increasing corruption and unemployment in their home countries. Nevertheless, in the medium term, even people with such concerns are seeing things in a relatively positive light. These are some of the findings of the latest EU Index survey carried out by GfK Custom Research Worldwide.
A few months after their countries joined the European Union, people in the accession countries still have mixed feelings about EU membership. Some are lowering their expectations as to potential opportunities they originally thought would result from membership, while the concerns others had are beginning to dissolve. People in the new EU countries have surprisingly high expectations of what the coming five years will hold.
These findings and the results outlined below are taken from the EU Index survey carried out by GfK, which involves around 8,300 people in nine countries.
Many are confident of good job and educational opportunities
Following EU accession last year, around 75 per cent of the population in the new member states hoped that EU membership would open doors in terms of both job opportunities and education in other EU countries. Today, only around 60 per cent believe this to be true. Students continue to be more positive about the situation, with around 75 per cent (2003: almost 90 per cent) believing that EU membership will provide good job and training opportunities in other EU countries. Only 45 per cent of people without higher education share this view.
Lithuanians are particularly confident about looking for jobs abroad. 76 per cent think that working abroad will provide new opportunities. When it comes to further education and training, 74 per cent of people in Slovakia believe in benefits resulting from their countries EU membership, which is more than in any of the other new member states.
To the question about how secure they thought their job in their home country was, around 50 per cent of respondents replied that they thought nothing would change in terms of job security (2003: 31 per cent). Similarly to last year, 28 per cent said there was more reason to worry about job security. Only 14 per cent expected a positive development. Compared with the previous year, this represents a drop of 15 percentage points in the number of people who are confident about jobs.
Expectations of the new EU citizens*
| higher | the same | lower | don't know | | Prices | 72.8 | 18.6 | 6.0 | 2.6 | | Educational opportunities in other EU countries | 59.6 | 25.2 | 3.4 | 11.8 | | Job opportunities in other EU countries | 58.3 | 26.4 | 5.5 | 9.7 | | Corruption | 36.0 | 47.0 | 8.4 | 8.6 | | Esteem of national identity | 14.2 | 60.2 | 16.5 | 9.1 | | Employment security (home) | 13.7 | 50.9 | 27.7 | 7.7 | | Standard of living | 12.4 | 46.6 | 38.2 | 2.8 | | Healthcare system | 11.4 | 55.1 | 29.4 | 4.1 |
* Responses in per cent; the respondents were asked the following questions: "How do you think the following will develop now that your country has joined the EU and what developments do you expect five years from now? Job security, healthcare system, job and educational opportunities in other EU countries, national identity, customs and values, standard of living, corruption, prices."
Source: GfK Custom Research Worldwide 2005
Lower expectations regarding standard of living and healthcare
Over the past twelve months, people have considerably revised their expectations with regard to the standard of living. While a year ago one in three hoped for a better standard of living as a result of EU membership, now this is only true of one in eight. The number of people expecting an improvement in the healthcare system is also down. A year ago, one in three believed that this would be the case. Twelve months on, just under one in ten still believe this.
Most people expect price increases
Only months after the EU accession, people are beginning to show fewer concerns: the number of those who believe that EU membership will result in price hikes in their countries has dropped from 81 to 73 per cent in the past twelve months. Lithuanians and Latvians continue to be sceptical, with around 90 per cent in each country concerned that prices may go up.
No change in the level of corruption
With regard to the question as to whether accession to the EU would change the level of corruption in the respective countries, only eight per cent now believe that the situation will improve. This figure is significantly lower than just a year ago (18 per cent).
As in the previous year, a third of all citizens in the new EU member states believe that corruption in their country will, if anything, become worse following EU membership despite the fact that EU law will apply in the future. Almost fifty per cent of people believe that EU membership will have no impact on the current circumstances in their countries (2003: 36 per cent).
Fewer fear the loss of identity, customs and values
Around 17 per cent of respondents (previous year: 24 per cent) expect that their country's EU membership will mean a loss of traditional, cultural identity. 60 per cent believe that nothing will change (previous year: 49 per cent) and approximately 15 per cent are of the opinion that national identity will become stronger in the future (previous year: 17 per cent).
Many believe in a brighter future
While currently only 12 per cent believe in a higher standard of living and only 11 per cent in better healthcare, 25 per cent of people in the new EU countries expect that their standard of living and the healthcare system in their own countries will improve in the next five years. People also believe that job security will be significantly improved. Around one in three is hoping for increased job security in the medium term, although only one in seven believe this will happen in the short term. More people also believe that job opportunities in other EU countries will improve in the next five years. Almost 60 per cent currently think that their country's EU membership will provide new opportunities for education and training in other EU member states. 70 per cent believe this will be the case five years from now.
The survey
For this most recent EU Index survey, GfK Custom Research Worldwide surveyed 8,309 respondents in the nine countries which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Respondents were asked the following questions: "How do you think the following will develop now that your country has joined the EU and what developments do you expect five years from now? Job security, healthcare system, job and educational opportunities in other EU countries, national identity, customs and values, standard of living, corruption, prices." The survey covers the following countries: Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The survey was carried out between 28 October 2004 and 16 December 2004. |
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