Survey says 60% think EU accession hasn’t benefited us
OVER 60 per cent of Cypriots are worried about unemployment, latest Eurobarometer figures have revealed.
The autumn 2005 survey also showed that six out of ten people in Cyprus believe the country has not benefited at all from EU accession and only 16 per cent of Greek Cypriots favour Turkey’s accession. Eight per cent of Turkish Cypriots said they opposed Turkey’s accession.
Politics aside, the main concern were related to the economy.
“Pessimism dominates the evaluations as to the evolution of the national economy and of employment conditions,” said the report.
Sixty per cent expect that the economic situation of the country will deteriorate within the next 12 months.
“The percentage of those that share this opinion has increased since the Spring of 2005 when it level of dissatisfaction stood at 56 per cent,” it added. “Citizens’ evaluations as to the national economic situation and employment conditions are much more pessimistic than the EU average, which stands at 40 per cent.”
The major problems that Cypriot say the country is facing are inflation, crime and the financial situation in general.
Most Cypriots expect that life in general will remain the same but 37 per cent expects that it will improve. Only 18 per cent expect an improvement of the financial state of their household, a percentage that is lower than the average of all member states compared to the EU average of 25 per cent and among, and the lowest recorded in all member states.
Only 15 per cent believe that their personal employment conditions will improve in the near future, a percentage which is also lower than the 22 per cent average of all member states.
Yet 85 per cent of Cypriots say they are satisfied with their lives.
Cypriots trust the National Guard more than any other institution with a 70 per cent approval rate compared to 66 per cent for the government, 58 per cent the parliament and 59 per cent the legal system. Only 19 per cent trust the political parties.
However Cypriots’ level of trust in the fundamental state institutions is higher than the average of all member states. Among the entire EU population, only 17 per cent trust political parties.
A high percentage of Cypriots, over 60 per cent, also trusts religious institutions.
According to the survey, two years after Cyprus’ accession to the EU, only four out of ten Greek Cypriots believe that their country benefited from EU accession, a percentage which is much lower than the 52 per cent EU average.
Nearly 70 per cent however favour further EU enlargement, a percentage significantly higher than the 48 per cent EU average.
As regards private life, although 85 per cent of the Greek Cypriots state satisfied with their lives, six out of ten believe that the country’s economic situation will deteriorate within the next twelve months.
Regarding the Turkish Cypriots, the survey showed that 72 per cent believe that the EU is a ”good thing”, while 80 per cent expect their standard of living will improve.
Turkish Cypriots also said that they trusted the EU more than the United Nations.
UNEMPLOYMENT: THE FACTS
UNEMPLOYMENT in Cyprus stood at 5.8 per cent in December figures published yesterday showed. For men the rate was 4.7 per cent and for women 7.1 per cent, while among the under 25s it was 12.4 per cent. The EU average was 8.5 per cent overall and 18.4 per cent for the under 25s.
The lowest rate of unemployment was recorded in Ireland at 4.3, followed by Denmark with 4.4 per cent, Holland 4.7 and the UK 4.9.
The highest percentages were recorded in Poland, 17.2 per cent and Slovakia 16.1 per cent:
Ireland 4.3
Denmark 4.4
Holland 4.7
United Kingdom 4. 9
Austria 5.2
Luxembourg 5.6
Cyprus 5.8
Slovenia 6.4
Estonia 6.7
Lithuania 6.8
Hungary 7.3
Italy 7.5
Portugal 7.5
Czech Republic 7.8
Malta 7.9
Latvia 8.3
Finland 8.4
Spain 8.5
Belgium 8.5
France 9.2
Germany 9.5
Greece 10.1
Slovakia 16.,1
Poland 17.2
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