Eurobarometer study finds dissatisfaction with cost of living in Cyprus

A special Eurobarometer issued on the occasion of one year before the elections for the European Parliament has shown that a large percentage is not satisfied with government or EU measures against the high cost of living.

The results also show that Cyprus has the largest percentage (87%) among member states of respondents agreeing that the actions of the EU affect their daily lives, and that there is an increase in interest in Cyprus and in the EU in the upcoming elections.

The results of the special Eurobarometer were released a year before the European elections scheduled for 6-9 June 2024, and presented a press conference held at the offices of the European Newsroom in Brussels, an initiative involving press agencies from across the EU.

When asked how interested they are in the next European elections, 49% of Cypriots (56% in the EU) answered positively, 49% in Cyprus (43% in the EU) answered negatively and 2% in Cyprus (1% in the EU) said they did not know.

These percentages showed an increase of three percentage points (pp) in Cyprus of those who said they were interested compared to the October-November 2022 Eurobarometer, a decrease of five pp among those who said they were not interested, and an increase of 2 pp among those who said they did not know. At the EU level, there was an increase of 2 pp among those who said they were interested and a corresponding decrease of 2 pp among those who were not interested.

The survey was conducted between March 2nd and 26th across the EU through face-to-face interviews and a sample of 26,376 people. The survey in Cyprus was conducted between March 3rd and 17th and a sample of 504 people.

Cyprus was also the country where the highest percentage of respondents said that the EU's actions affect (positively or negatively) their daily life, with 87% saying that the EU has affected their daily life (71% in the EU).

Cyprus was also the country with the second highest percentage of young people aged 15 - 24 who said that they think that EU actions affect their daily life (89% vs. 70% in the EU).

However, a significant proportion of those who think that the EU's actions affect their daily life answered in a separate question that they have difficulties paying their bills most of the time (91% in Cyprus, 68% in the EU) or sometimes (93% vs. 68%), although the percentage of those who answered almost never or never (82% vs. 73%) was not low.

Meanwhile, Cyprus comes second in the share of respondents who said they were satisfied with their national government's measures to tackle the cost of living (14% compared to 33% in the EU), and the lowest percentage of respondents who gave a positive answer to the same question regarding the EU’s measures on the same issue (13% compared to 32%).

Regarding the EU's support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, 68% of Cypriots said they approve (76% in the EU). In particular, 19% said they strongly support the EU's stance (36% in the EU), 49% somewhat support (40% in the EU), 17% somewhat disagree (14% in the EU) and 12% strongly disagree (7% in the EU).

When asked how satisfied they are with what the EU has done in specific areas, Cypriots appeared most satisfied with the EU's actions in the areas of health and consumer protection (62% vs. 53%) and in areas related to the European Green Deal (62% vs. 47%).

These were followed by support for Ukraine (59% vs. 69% in the EU where this area came first), democratic rights and support for the rule of law (59% vs. 64%), the digital agenda (51% vs. 51%), foreign policy (44% vs. 54%), economic and social recovery (41% vs. 51%) and, with much lower percentages, migration and asylum (25% vs. 43%, the lowest percentage also among EU-level responses).

When asked whether they are satisfied with the functioning of democracy in their country, 50% of Cypriots said they were satisfied (56% in the EU), an increase of 10 percentage points compared to the previous Eurobarometer. The percentage remained stable at EU level.

When asked about the parameters of democracy in the EU that they are most satisfied with, the most positive answers in Cyprus were by far and with higher percentages than the EU average, freedom of speech (77% vs. 70%), free and fair elections (76% vs. 70%). This was followed with percentages below the EU average by media diversity (69% vs. 60%), respect for fundamental rights (60% vs. 66%) and with percentages just below 60% and close to the EU average, the ability of citizens to participate in politics, the capacity of civil society to defend democracy, and the rule of law.

However, citizens in Cyprus were less satisfied, and quite a bit less than in the EU, with regard to the fight against corruption (20% vs. 35%), the fight against misinformation (27% vs. 41%) and the extent to which political parties take into account the interests of citizens like themselves (27% vs. 43%).

(Source: CNA)