Half of Bulgarians Do Not Approve of the Euro: Top 3 Eurozone Skeptics

Business » FINANCE | September 16, 2022, Friday // 11:45
Bulgaria: Half of Bulgarians Do Not Approve of the Euro: Top 3 Eurozone Skeptics @BNR

Almost half (46%) of Bulgarians who participated in the latest Eurobarometer poll do not approve of the monetary union in the EU with a single currency, the euro. They remain more than the adopters of the euro, although in half a year the "In favor" group has increased by three percentage points to 40%.

Nearly 18 months before the date the authorities have set as a target for Bulgaria to join the Eurozone, 14% say they "don't know" or "refuse to answer" whether or not they approve of the euro. No other country in the EU has such a high proportion of people without an opinion - even those countries that are not obliged to adopt it or do not plan to do so at all.

The end result is that Bulgaria, a country in the "euro waiting room", is in the Top-3 in terms of the share of those who disapprove of parting with the national currency.

Disapproval is highest in Sweden (72%), followed by Denmark (69%) and the Czech Republic (59%). At the same time, the Danes won an exception from the obligation under the EU Treaty to exchange their krone for euros one day. I.e. Bulgaria is the third most negative towards the single currency.

The Kantar TNS BBSS agency spoke face-to-face with 1,038 Bulgarian citizens between June 18 and July 11.

In Croatia, where prices are already double (in kuna and euro), and from the New Year only the euro will be used, there is no change in the ratio of supporters/opponents (52%/49%). It is curious that in Poland, ruled by a national-conservative government, there are more sympathizers of the single currency (49% "In favor" and 44% "Against") than in Bulgaria.

Като се изключи Дания (крайно вдясно), която получи изключение от задължението да приеме еврото, България е сред трите страни от ЕС с най-ниско одобрение за единната валута.

In half a year, support for a European economic and monetary union with a single currency has increased on average across the EU by three percentage points and is now at its highest level ever (72%).

Opposition to the euro also fell to an all-time low (22%, minus 2 percentage points).

  • Within the Eurozone, support also increased to its highest level ever (80%, up 3 percentage points), while opposition slightly decreased (15%, minus 1 percentage point).
  • In 23 member states, the majority of respondents are "In favor" the European Economic and Monetary Union, the euro as the single currency (up from 22 in the winter of 2021-2022)
  • The highest levels of support are also seen in Luxembourg (92%), Ireland and Malta (both 90%). But at least eight out of ten respondents in Belgium, Slovenia (both 88%), Estonia, Spain, Latvia (87%), Portugal (86%), Lithuania, the Netherlands (both 85%), Cyprus and Slovakia (84%), Germany (83%) and Finland (82%) are in favor of a single currency and economic union
  • Although their countries are outside the Eurozone, the majority of respondents in Hungary (67%) and Romania (54%) are also in favor of European economic and monetary policy and the euro.

През последните 10 години одобрението за еврото се покачва непрекъснато и в еврозоната, и в ЕС като цяло, докато неодобрението постоянно намалява.

Support for the euro became more widespread in 18 member states from the winter of 2021-2022, with the biggest increases seen in:

  • Lithuania (85%, +14 percentage points)
  • Poland (49%, +11 percentage points)
  • Malta (90%, +8 percentage points)

Conversely, support has declined in four countries, including the Czech Republic (33%, -10 percentage points). It remains unchanged in Ireland, Slovenia, Germany, Austria and Croatia.

One of the possible explanations for the results from Bulgaria is that for half a year practically nothing has changed in the assessments of the respondents about the situation in the national economy. Again, only 10% say it's good, again 84% (down from a paltry 1 percentage point) say it's bad, and 6% (up 1 percentage point) don't know.

Bulgarians are not as pessimistic about their personal work and state as Europeans in the next 12 months. In both assessments (for Bulgaria and on average for the EU), 28% answered that the situation will remain the same, while 44% (plus 8 percentage points) of Bulgarians expect a deterioration against 53% (plus 22%) of Europeans.

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Tags: Bulgarians, euro, Eurozone, Bulgaria

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