Maltese youths most optimistic about EU

Maltese young people are the most optimistic about the EU’s future, with 92% expressing a positive outlook – well above the EU average of 61%.

They are also among the most likely to see the EU as having a positive impact on their lives.

A newly published Eurobarometer survey on young Europeans’ views on EU challenges and priorities shows that 48% of Maltese young people aged between 16 and 30 are very optimistic about the future of the bloc, while 44% are rather optimistic.

This means that 92% of young people in Malta have expressed some sort of optimism, compared to 61% of young people in the EU as a whole.

While 31% of young people in the EU are pessimistic, only 5% of Maltese young people are rather pessimistic, and none are very pessimistic.

The percentage of Maltese young people who are ‘very optimistic’ about the EU’s future is the highest in the bloc.

In fact, while nearly half of Maltese young people are very optimistic, only 15% of young people in the EU share the same sentiment while 46% are rather optimistic.

The survey suggests that optimism about the EU’s future is highest in Malta (92%), followed by Ireland (91%), Romania (88%), Cyprus (85%), Denmark and Luxembourg (84%), Portugal (82%), Estonia and Latvia (80%). Pessimism is greatest in France (43%) and Germany (42%).

The survey also shows that Maltese young people are among the most likely to believe that the EU has a positive impact on the society they live in (86%). They are also the most likely to think the EU has a very positive impact, with 50% holding this view, while 36% consider the impact fairly positive. This is the highest percentage in the EU.

Only 1% of Maltese youth think the EU has a negative impact – the lowest in the EU – while 12% are neutral.

In contrast, only 19% of young people across the EU think the union has a very positive impact on their society, while 41% consider it fairly positive. Meanwhile, 27% are neutral, and 11% believe it has a negative impact.

The most likely to see the EU as having a positive impact are the Irish (88%), followed by the Maltese (86%) and the Danes and Luxembourgers (81%).

The lowest percentages are found in France (47%), Germany (50%), and Poland (52%).

The survey also shows that, on a personal level, Maltese youth (48%) are the most likely to associate the European Union with access to programmes such as Erasmus+, DiscoverEU, the European Solidarity Corps, and EURES. In contrast, only 30% of all EU youth associate the EU with such opportunities.

Youth in other EU member states are more likely to link membership to the freedom to travel and explore other countries. While 39% associate membership with this aspect, only 27% of Maltese young people think so.

A significant proportion of Maltese young people also associate the EU with work opportunities (29%), a united effort to tackle global challenges (25%), and strong protection of their rights and freedoms (22%).

Respondents were also asked to identify the EU’s top priorities. For Maltese youth, addressing irregular migration (27%) ranked highest, followed by climate change (25%) and the economy (23%). Only 21% prioritised security and defence.

In contrast, security and defence is the top priority for EU youth (31%), followed by climate change (27%) and public health (26%).

When asked about their greatest concerns for the future, inflation emerged as the top worry for EU youth overall (41%). However, only 26% of Maltese young people identified inflation as their main concern. Instead, they were most worried about climate change (29%) and EU security (27%).