48% of European citizens believe in the EU; 34% declare they have faith in their national government. The autumn survey by Eurobarometro , presented in Brussels during the week, revealed that “the overall attitude of citizens towards Community Europe and its institutions is extremely positive”. The citizens of the 27 are instead “increasingly worried about the economic situation of their country and in particular as relates to prices”. Margot Wallstrom, vice-president of the Commission, declared: “it’s encouraging to see that the satisfaction of citizens for the fact that their Country is a member of the EU reached a peak compared to the past decade and twice the amount of citizens believe that their Country will benefit from belonging to the EU”. The survey mentioned two main indicators of the attitude towards the EU: satisfaction for being Community members was expressed by 58% of the interviewees (+1% compared to past Spring) while advantages for the fact of being Members was affirmed by 58% (-1%) . Among the Community institutions, interviewees have more faith in the Parliament (55%), followed by the Commission (50%). The number of people “in favour of common EU decisions” is on the increase especially as relates to the fight against terrorism (81% are in favour), environment protection (73%), scientific research (72%) and energy (68%).
