Eurobarometer: More than three quarters of Hungarians consider EU membership beneficial

According to the results of the latest Eurobarometer survey published on Wednesday, Hungarians' view of the European Union has both improved and deteriorated in the past six months. According to the EU-wide, representative opinion poll, 46 percent of Hungarians had a positive opinion of the EU in February-March this year – which is five percent more than in autumn last year. Back then, those with a neutral stance were in the relative majority, but they are now down to 39 percent. The share of negative opinions has also increased – although not as much as the positive ones, only by 3 percent, having reached 15 percent.

The current survey showed the highest EU average for respondents with a positive view of the EU since the surveys began in 2011: 41 percent. This is the first time they have a relative majority over neutrals – albeit by just one percentage point.

Other than opinions about the EU itself, the survey also polled opinions about EU membership.

At 77 percent, the proportion of Hungarians who think that EU membership is beneficial is above the EU average and up 4 percent compared to six months ago.

This figure is at 70 percent even among those who consider themselves right-wing. 47 percent are satisfied with the functioning of Hungarian democracy, while 55 percent are satisfied with the way the EU is functioning. The former is well below the EU average, the latter slightly above, resulting in the odd situation where, while in the EU, the state of democracy in the particular member state is considered better, Hungarians deem the state of democracy in the EU to be better than at home.

Meanwhile, we are well below the average in agreeing that our voice matters in the EU, whether as a citizen or as a Member State, but even here there is a significant improvement compared to numbers from six months ago. The situation is similar for how we view our individual influence on the country's affairs, but there's hardly any change compared to the numbers from last autumn.

The picture is further nuanced by the fact that the survey also asked about the EU's handling of several problems, and those dissatisfied are in the majority in Hungary concerning all of them. The situation is the same in the EU, with the exception of the Covid-19 epidemic. Hungarian dissatisfaction is the highest on the handling of migration (70 per cent) and on the Russian occupation of Ukraine (64 per cent). On the issue of Covid-19, climate change and Brexit, the gap between those dissatisfied and those satisfied is relatively small, between 4 and 6 percent.

The latest Eurobarometer survey prior to the June EP elections indicates that Hungarians are better informed about the date of the vote than the average citizen from other EU states.

Even so, nearly half of those polled could only guess that it would be this year, they did not even guess the month correctly, and barely a fifth knew that it would be held on 9 June. The number of those interested in the EP elections in Hungary is also higher than in the EU, with almost two-thirds of Hungarians polled answering positively, which is a 15 percent improvement from six months ago. Considering the vote important is roughly in line with the EU average, with 51 percent giving it a score of 8 or more on a scale of 10.

Seven out of ten said they were likely to vote. The EP calculated an expected turnout based on this, comparing the result for the same question five years ago with the actual number of those who showed up to vote. This resulted in 43 percent being predicted for Hungary, but this is likely to be driven up further by the fact that the municipal elections will be held on the same day.

When asked about the campaign issues they considered to be priorities, the Hungarian answers stood out among the EU's. Public healthcare came out on top with 39 percent, ranking second in the EU. The economy also stood out and, despite low unemployment compared to the EU average, job creation was a close second with 38 percent. The future of Europe came in third and the rule of law in fifth place, although these are only somewhere around the middle of the Member States' average. The fight against poverty and social exclusion ranked in between these two, while it is at the top of the list in the EU. Migration (23 percent) was behind even issues such as tackling climate change, although this may change now that the adoption of the Migration and Asylum Pact is in the final stages and the government has been keen to address this in its communication.

The survey shows that the Hungarian government's messaging on the European Parliament, suggesting that the EP's powers should be cut back and the pre-1979 system should be restored, thus abolishing direct elections of MEPs, has not really got through. Fifty-six percent of Hungarians polled would give a bigger role to MEPs, while 32 percent would reduce their role – the former is in line with the average across member states, while the latter is slightly higher than elsewhere. In Hungary, 46 percent of respondents have a positive view of the EU body, which is a huge improvement of more than 10 percent compared to six months ago. 39 percent are neutral and 14 percent negative. The more educated and the younger the person, the better their perception of the EP.