The Diplomat
The European Commission published yesterday the Winter Eurobarometer for the 2020/2021 period, which reveals that Spain remains one of the most pro-European countries in the EU even in the midst of the major health and economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Eurobarometer, 84% of the Spanish population feels that they are citizens of the European Union. This figure is considerably higher than the average percentage of all European Union countries, which is 74 % (ten points higher), and is similar to that of the previous year (two points lower). With this result, Spain is in fourth position in this ranking together with Germany and only below Portugal, Ireland and Luxembourg.
In addition, 52% of Spaniards trust the institutions of the European Union, compared to 39% in the previous Eurobarometer, and only 20% trust the government (one point less than in the previous survey). In fact, the study -conducted in the context of the pandemic and the economic crisis generated by it- reveals that citizens in Spain maintain a high degree of distrust towards political parties (90%), the Congress (76%), the Government of Spain (74%), the Public Administration (51%), the municipalities or autonomous communities (53%) and the Judicial System (51%).
This preference for European institutions is also apparent with regard to COVID-19. The Eurobarometer reveals that both Spanish and European citizens trust the decisions taken by the European Union to combat the pandemic and nine out of ten Spaniards and 84% of Europeans even consider that the EU should have more alternatives in order to manage future health crises similar to the current one. Likewise, three out of four Spaniards consider that the European Union is playing a key role in ensuring access to vaccines in Spain.
These data can be explained because “the Government has always supported the European vaccination strategy and the European Commission at all times”, although they also reveal “failures and errors” which must be “taken into account so that they do not happen again”, declared yesterday the Secretary of State for the EU, Juan González-Barba, during the presentation of the Eurobarometer report on Spain, which took place at the headquarters of the European Commission in Madrid. If it had not been for the European coordination for the purchase and distribution of vaccines, access “would have been much less efficient and equitable”, added the director of the Commission’s representation in Spain, María Ángeles Benítez Salas, at the same event.
The study indicates that the major reason for concern for 53% of the Spaniards is “the sanitary situation and of the Social Security” (40 points more than the previous year) and the second one, almost at the same level (51%), is the unemployment. For the rest of European citizens, unemployment is the third concern (25%). The third problem for Spaniards is the economic situation, while for the rest of Europeans this problem is in second place. The Eurobarometer also indicates that nine out of ten Spaniards have a pessimistic view of the employment and economic situation in Spain, eight points above the results of the previous year and twenty points above the rest of European citizens.
As for the economic crisis generated by the coronavirus, the vast majority of Spaniards and Europeans do not believe that the recovery of their country’s economy will be effective before 2023 and 70% of Spanish and European citizens believe that the vaccine is the only way to put an end to the pandemic. Likewise, the majority of Spanish and European respondents in general have confidence in the effectiveness of the EU Recovery Plan, called NextGenerationEU.
