Maltese feel they are EU citizens more than other Europeans

Three out of four Maltese citizens feel they are EU citizens, in response to a question on their perception towards EU citizenship and rights of EU citizens.

In a Eurobarometer survey, held in November 2012 shows that in Malta, the EU is perceived positively, and this sense of belonging was even stronger among those living in Malta, with 76% agreeing that they feel they are EU citizens.

This is above the EU average, were 63% of respondents across the EU claimed that they think of themselves as EU citizens.

53% of respondents in Malta also claimed that they were aware of their rights as EU citizens, while on average, respondents in the EU27, were not aware of these rights, with only 45% answering in the affirmative.

The majority of respondents in Malta, 75%, stated that they would like to know more about their rights as citizens of the EU, compared to the 62% of EU27 respondents.

44% of respondents in Malta who claimed that they would like to know more about their rights as EU citizens said that they would like to know more about receiving medical assistance in another EU Member State 32% of respondents said that they would like to be better informed about the benefitting from a consular protection of any EU Member State when they are outside the EU and their own country is not represented there, while 26% wanted to know more about working in another EU Member State.

The public opinion report also found that respondents residing in Malta believe that the most positive results of the EU are peace among the Member States of the EU (45%) followed by free movement of people, goods and services within the EU (42%) and student exchange programmes.

EU27 respondents agreed with the two results which prevailed in Malta, but in inverted order. When compared to results from the rest of the EU, local respondents gave more importance to the availability of student exchange programmes such as ERASMUS, and also the level of social welfare in the EU.

However 10% of local respondents believe that the EU did not bring about any positive results. This result is comparable to what respondents in the rest of the 27 EU countries believe (13%).

92% of respondents residing in Malta have watched a TV program or read a book, newspaper or magazine (60%) in a language other than their mother tongue.

This result, which is three times higher than the EU27 average is most likely down to the reason that English is also a national language. Moreover, the report noted that a large percentage of Maltese citizens have significant exposure to Italian through Italian television stations, which until relatively recently were the only ones available other than Maltese ones.

20% of the Maltese population prefers to watch television in Italian, while 29% prefer to watch television in English.

43% of respondents in Malta said they had visited another EU country, compared to the 41% among EU27 respondents.

A higher amount of respondents in Malta (66%) also said that they had socialised with people from other EU countries when compared to EU27 respondents (48%).

According to the NSO Census 2005, 4% of the population in Malta are nationals of another EU country, while between January and November 2012, 1,174,518 outbound tourists from European countries were recorded in Malta.

The report noted that these facts might have had an impact on the number of respondents living in Malta who claimed to have socialised with people from another EU country.

A noteworthy EU achievement which Maltese residents feel they have benefitted considerably from, was access to less expensive flights and a wider choice of airlines (44%).

The introduction of low cost airlines operating to Malta may have affected such a high percentage, when compared to the EU27 average (26%).

The number of respondents residing in Malta who claimed that they have worked, lived or studied in another EU country, also increased, compared to previous studies.

In addition, 49% of respondents residing in Malta claimed that they have benefitted from the lack of, or reduced, border control when travelling abroad.

Moreover, scholarship schemes and educational exchange programs, such as ERASMUS, have encouraged a greater number of students to travel abroad to study (12%).

There was also a greater number of respondents in Malta than the EU average, who claimed to have benefitted from improved consumers rights when buying products or services in another EU country (53%), less expensive communication costs when using a mobile phone in another EU country (47%), and strengthened rights of air transport passengers in the EU (38%).

The report said that the adoption of the new EU regulation on roaming tariffs, released in June 2012, probably had a bearing in this regard. It is aimed at minimising the difference between domestic tariffs and roaming tariffs, therefore creating an internal market for mobile communication services.