Eurobarometer: Bulgarians Remain Optimistic About the Future of Europe

More than half (53%) of Bulgarian citizens over the age of 15 declare their trust in the European Union - 9 percentage points above the average across the Union. Less than a third (30%) of Bulgarians declare no distrust of the EU, and the rest have no opinion.

This is the result of Eurobarometer 90.3, held late last year. Among the countries with the highest confidence in the EU are Lithuania (65%), Denmark (60%), Sweden (59%), the Netherlands (57%), Malta (56%) and Portugal (55%). At a European level, there has been some growth in the positive assessment of the EU - 43%, a growth of 3 percentage points compared to the spring of 2018.

Bulgarian citizens retain their approval for the EU institutions and tend to trust them more than their national equivalents. More than half of the respondents (51%) believe in the European Parliament and at the same time only 13% trust the National Assembly. The confidence in the European Commission is 45% (2% growth compared to the spring of 2018), and the national government - 22%.

Among European policies, Bulgarian public opinion traditionally has the highest support (87%) for the possibility of free movement of people, goods and services. The common defense and security policy is supported by 72%, the EU's common foreign policy - by 62% and the overall energy policy - by 60% of the Bulgarians. The bulk of Bulgarians (57%) and Europeans (58%) share optimistic views on the future of the European Union.

Concerning the future enlargement of the EU, the share of people in our country who support the accession of new Member States (51%) is higher than the average European level (43%). Traditionally, Bulgarians share positive views on the idea of ​​the countries of the Western Balkans joining the European Union....

Continue reading on: