Brussels, 31/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - According to a new Eurobarometer survey published by the European Commission on 31 July, immigration is now the greatest challenge facing the EU. According to the Spring 2015 Eurobarometer, which was carried out in May of this year, 38% of respondents believe that immigration is the main challenge to be tackled, compared to 27% of respondents who cited the economic situation, 24% unemployment and 23% the public finances of the member states. It was in Malta (65% of respondents) and Germany (55%) where this concern about immigration was expressed most strongly, plus Estonia (54%) and Denmark (50%). Portugal (16%) and Greece (27%) are the only two countries in which immigration was not listed as one of the major challenges the EU is currently facing.
Concerns related to terrorism also increased sharply (17% of respondents across the EU, or six percentage points more than in autumn 2014), following the terrorist attacks in France and Denmark.
The survey also reported that the positive perception of the EU has also increased, with confidence in the EU reported by 40% of respondents, or three percentage points more than in autumn 2014.
The survey was carried out in 34 countries: the 28 member states of the EU, five candidate countries (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania) and the Turkish Cypriot community in the part of the country not controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus. (Solenn Paulic)