For 59% of Bulgarians and 66% of the other EU citizens, the future of the Community is optimistic. This is indicated by the data from a "Eurobarometer" survey, presented today by the European Parliament, BTA reported.
Half of the Bulgarian participants in the survey and the other Europeans have a positive attitude towards the EU, and 44% of Bulgarians and 41% of the others - towards the EP. The majority (62% in Bulgaria and 72% in the EU) report that the EU's actions affect their everyday life, and according to half of them, this influence is positive. For 58% of Bulgarians and 73% of the other participants, their country benefits from being part of the EU. According to 47 percent of Bulgarians, the main benefit is additional job opportunities (this answer is given by 25 percent of the other participants), while for the rest of the EU, the most important are the protection of peace and improved security.
Almost half of Bulgarians (49 percent; 42 percent in the EU) are of the opinion that the EU is developing in the right direction. According to 50 percent in our country and 52 percent of the other participants, their country is not going in the right direction. In our country, 43 percent (55 percent in the EU) expect their standard of living to remain unchanged in the next five years, while 27 percent of all responses express pessimism.
According to 56 percent of the Bulgarian participants and 68 percent of the other participants, the role of the EU in protecting against global threats will increase. The majority (81 percent in Bulgaria and 90 percent in the rest of the EU) is of the opinion that EU countries need to be more united in the face of current common challenges. For 69 percent in Bulgaria and 77 percent in the rest of the EU, there is a need for a larger European budget to provide more support for the projects being developed. Most participants (61 percent in Bulgaria and 64 percent in the EU) have not recently come across information about the EU's long-term budget.
The majority (82 percent in Bulgaria and 85 percent in the EU) agree that the provision of European funds should depend on the state of legality. Just over 70 percent support the introduction of new opportunities for generating revenue in the European budget. Most participants (58 percent in Bulgaria and 55 percent in the EU) expect transparency in the distribution of the general budget. The shares of those who would like efficiency and traceability of budget spending are similar.
In Bulgaria, 43 percent (62 percent in other EU countries) want the EP to have a greater role. Among the main topics indicated by the participants for consideration by the MEPs are inflation, defense, the fight against poverty, and job creation. The participants state that the EP should protect peace above all (over 45 percent), democracy (19 percent in Bulgaria and 33 percent in the EU), freedom of speech (17 percent in Bulgaria and 22 percent in the EU), the rule of law (28 percent in Bulgaria and 22 percent in the EU), and free movement (34 percent in Bulgaria and 15 percent in the EU).
The survey was conducted in May, with 1,039 participants responding from the Bulgarian side.