95% of Maltese believe it’s important to partner with countries outside EU to reduce poverty – survey

Respondents to a Eurobarometer survey in Malta are among the most positive about development aid.

More than nine in 10 (95%) think it is important to partner with countries outside the EU to reduce poverty around the world. This is an increase of seven percentage points since November‐December 2020, and above the EU average of 89%.

In February and March 2022 Europeans were interviewed about their attitudes towards development aid. Five hundred and twenty-eight Maltese were interviewed.

Respondents in Malta are some of the most likely in the EU to agree that tackling poverty in partner countries should be one of the main priorities of the EU. More than nine in 10 (91% vs the EU average of 80%) agree, an increase of 13 percentage points, which is the largest recorded in any member state. Far fewer (64%) think tackling poverty in partner countries should be one of the main priorities of the national government, but this is still an increase of seven points since 2020 and only slightly below the EU average of 67%.

The survey also found that almost all respondents in Malta (97%) think it is important that the EU tackles climate change and its effects in partner countries, notably higher than the EU average of 89%. This is an increase of seven points since 2020, the second largest increase recorded. Almost all respondents in Malta think it is important for the EU to donate Covid‐19 vaccines to partner countries (97% vs the EU average of 86%).

In addition, the survey found that around half (49%) of all respondents in Malta think that the EU is currently successful in driving positive sustainable change around the world in terms of addressing climate change, considerably higher than the EU average of 39%. Respondents in Malta are also among the most likely to think that the EU is successful in driving positive, sustainable change around the world in terms of tackling the Covid‐19 pandemic (75% vs the EU average of 49%).

For those in Malta, health (46%), education (41%) and peace and security (33%) are considered the most pressing challenges facing partner countries. Respondents are also more likely to mention environment protection and climate change (21%) or energy (13%) than they were in November‐December 2021.