Romanians remain most optimistic Europeans

Romanians show a constant attitude of trust in the European construction and are most optimistic among EU citizens as their country and Bulgaria joined the Union on January 1 this year, results of a new poll published by the European Commission Delegation to Bucharest says.

The Eurobarometer poll shows 67% of Romanians believe in the European Union and 30% of them believe their country will fare better economically over the next 12 months - compared to an average of 20% of Europeans who believe so about their countries.

The document says the satisfaction of Romanians about their daily lives is significantly lower than in other EU countries (48% compared to 72% in new member states and 85% in the EU-15 countries). But the individual optimism is higher (40% compared to 31% in NMS and 35% in EU-15).

Romanians share the opinion of other EU citizens that human rights, peace and respect for life are values of most importance for their individual lives. And they seem to pay more interest in personal improvement and work than in having more spare time.

Their main worries are related to economic development, higher prices and inflation (30%, above 20% in NMS and 15% in EU-15). While other Europeans are more worried about unemployment, terrorism and immigration, Romanians worry most about pensions, the health system, taxes and the economic development of the country.

And they expect EU institutions and the Romanian government to cooperate in solving problems related to immigration, pensions, health and regional development. But they believe it is only the Romanian Government who should worry about environment, agriculture, energy and consumer protection.

Romanians do not trust state institutions much, the poll shows, as they expect the EU to solve public agenda issues - as opposite to the EU-15 citizens who are pleased about the way they live and are leaning more towards their national institutions for problem solving.

Bucharest citizens are most optimistic among Romanians as 75% trust the EU (compared to the national average of 67%) and 53% are satisfied with their daily lives (48% nationally).

Source: english.hotnews.ro