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Close to half or 49 percent of the citizens of the European Union are optimistic about the future of the union while in Estonia and Lithuania optimists make up 64 percent, the newly-published Standard Eurobarometer Spring 2013 survey shows.
Estonians optimistic about future of EU - survey
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In 19 countries of the EU28 the majority of respondents say that they are optimistic about the future of the EU. Denmark comes first with 72 percent and is followed by Estonia and Lithuania with 64 percent, and Malta and Poland with 63 percent.
A pessimistic view is shared by 46 percent of the EU citizens.
Seventy two percent of Europeans believe that the economic situation of the EU is bad.
Perceptions of the current situation of the national economy vary widely between the EU member states. In Sweden, Germany and Luxembourg three-quarters or more respondents continue to consider the economic situation of their country good, whereas there are now six member states in which less than 5 percent of respondents agree, namely Greece, Spain, Slovenia, Portugal, Bulgaria and Cyprus.
Trust in political institutions is continuing to decrease and the EU institutions are still trusted more than the national ones. After a 2-point decrease 31 percent of the EU citizens trust the union whereas only 25 percent trust their national government and 26 percent their parliament.
The survey was carried out by TNS at the request of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Communication.