The world economic crisis is the main issue concerning Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on the island, according to the Eurobarometer, which was released on Thursday.
According to the report for the areas under the control of the government of the Republic of Cyprus, the vast majority of citizens (85%) feel satisfied with their lives, noting that the level of satisfaction of citizens has decreased by 5% since the last Eurobarometer in spring 2008.
The vast majority of Cypriots (78%) is not satisfied with the cost of living in Cyprus. Just 22% is satisfied; while in the E.U.27, 78% is dissatisfied and 21% satisfied. A total of 88% of citizens residing in the areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus are dissatisfied with energy prices, a consequence of successive increases in the price of crude oil since the summer of 2008.
Asked regarding their purchasing power, 78% of Cypriots believe it has decreased. This is the highest negative percentage recorded in the E.U.27. In addition, 67% of citizens say that they have difficulty paying all of their bills at the end of the month.
The majority of citizens, 53%, find the condition of their national economy to be good.
Regarding their personal employment situation, half of Cypriots (50%) find it is good while just 13% believes the contrary. The majority of Cypriot citizens (65%) believe that the situation of their national economy is better than the average of European countries.
Cyprus is one of the three members of the Eurozone in which the majority does not agree that membership of the Eurozone makes it feel more stable financially. A total of 50% say that it does not feel more stable, while 40% says it does.
A large number of citizens do not expect changes in the next 12 months when it comes to their personal situation.
The majority of citizens expect that the national economy will worsen in the coming 12 months (46%). Regarding employment conditions in Cyprus, the majority (44%) believe that they will remain the same, while a significant 39% expect that they will get worse.
The two main problems of concern to the citizens of Cyprus is the rise in prices (46%) and the economic situation (30%). A high percentage (25%) answered “other,” while the same percentage answered crime.
The majority of citizens (59%) trust the European Union (far lower than the 71% recorded in the spring). It is important to note that trust in the European Union in Cyprus remains higher than the EU average (47%).
Trust in the European Parliament is expressed by 55% of citizens, in the European Commission by 53%, in the Council of the European Union by 54% and in the European Central Bank by 49%.
Four out of ten citizens residing in the areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus consider Cyprus’s EU membership positive. Forty per cent of the respondents believe that Cyprus’s membership to the EU is a good thing, 37% that it is neither good nor bad, while 21% believe that it is a bad thing.
A significant drop of 12% is recorded in the percentage that believes that Cyprus has overall benefited from its membership of the European Union: 43% of citizens believe that Cyprus has benefited from its accession to the European Union.
Half the citizens (50%) say that they hold a positive image of the European Union. More than half the citizens residing in the areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus say they understand how the European Union works. With 59% of citizens (a drop of 6 percentage points since the spring of 2008) saying they understand the way the European Union works, Cyprus ranks second amongst member states in citizens’ understanding.
A total of 31% of the sample believes that its voice counts in the EU, a percentage comparable to the EU27 average (30%).
Cypriot citizens are in favour of a European monetary union with one single currency, the euro. Fifty-eight per cent of Cypriots are for the monetary union with 38% against.
For the Turkish Cypriot community, life satisfaction levels of Turkish Cypriots continue to fall during this wave of Standard Eurobarometer. Only 51% of Turkish Cypriots who have participated in this study said they are satisfied with their lives.
Turkish Cypriots perceive the economic situation in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus as bad with 56% of Turkish Cypriots participating in the study stated that the economic situation of the Turkish Cypriot community (TCC) is bad.
Fifty-six percent of Turkish Cypriots are more optimistic about the European economy than they are about the TCC economy.
Turkish Cypriots, who stated that the situation of the economy in the TCC is bad, when asked about the situation of their employment personally and the situation of their household finances, 60% and 68% respectively stated that it was good. Sixty-three per cent of the Turkish Cypriots participating in the study thought that the employment situation in the TCC is bad. Similarly, 53% of Turkish Cypriots participating in the study thought that the environment was in a bad condition.
Turkish Cypriots, who are very pessimistic about the economic situation in the TCC, think that their buying power has worsened (45%) when compared to 5 years ago. A total of 76% of Turkish Cypriots participating in the study stated that they find it difficult to pay all their bills at the end of the month.
Turkish Cypriots are complaining about the cost of living with 75% of the survey noting that the situation on this issue was bad in the TCC. Similarly, 66% and 60% of Turkish Cypriots thought energy supplies in the TCC and execution of public administration matters were bad.
Turkish Cypriots think that the economic situation and employment will get worse in the next 12 months. Turkish Cypriots strongly believe that the economic situation and employment will get worse in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus within the next 12 months.
Turkish Cypriots have stated in the EB 70 study that the most important issue facing the Turkish Cypriot Community is the economic situation. When compared to the last two Standard Eurobarometer studies, we can observe that the Cyprus problem is no longer the most important problem and economic issues are gaining priority among the Turkish Cypriots.
There has been a decrease in the level of trust in the EU among Turkish Cypriots. Forty-seven percent of Turkish Cypriots stated that they trust the EU. However, Turkish Cypriots’ trust in the UN is limited to 44%.
Fifty-three percent of Turkish Cypriots who participated in this study considered that the full implementation of the acquis communautaire the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus would be a good thing.
Turkish Cypriots think their personal voices are not taken into account in the EU (58%) or within the TCC (55%).
Androulla Kaminara, Head of the European Commission Representation in Cyprus said that what Cypriots as a whole are worried the economy in Europe will have problems but there would be fewer problems in Cyprus.
Secondly, all Cypriots say they have difficulties paying their bills in the future and thirdly, economic crisis and inflation are the biggest problems, in the third place, Turkish Cypriots consider it is unemployment whereas Greek Cypriots consider crime.
