Economy top European concern, survey shows

ANKARA

Positive perception of the situation of the European economy has diminished by 5 percentage points since early 2022 and is now at 40%, according to a Eurobarometer survey on Tuesday.

"The majority of respondents (51%, +6 pp) think that the situation of economy is currently bad," said the survey which is conducted frequently in Europe.

Additionally, positive perception of the situation of the national economy has also diminished by 5 percentage points to 34%, with 64% describing the situation of their national economy as bad (+5 pp).

"The majority of respondents expect the situation of the national economy to worsen in the next 12 months (53%, +22 pp)," it underlined.

"Meanwhile, support for the euro is rising, reaching its highest level ever: eight out of 10 respondents in the euro area (+3 pp) and 72% in the EU (+3 pp) are in favour of a European economic and monetary union with one single currency, the euro," it noted.

Rising prices

When asked about the most important issues facing the EU at the moment, more than one-third of respondents mentioned: "rising prices/inflation/cost of living" (54%, +13 pp), followed by energy supply (22%, +11 pp) and the economic situation (20%, +1 pp).

"This is not surprising since more than six in 10 respondents (62%) say that the war in Ukraine has had serious consequences for their personal finances," it added.

Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of EU citizens agree that the EU should invest in renewable energies (87%), reduce its dependency on Russian sources of energy (86%) and that gas storage in EU countries should be filled up rapidly to allow uninterrupted gas supply during winter (86%).