The handling of irregular migration, the cost of living, and terrorism and security issues are the main challenges that the European Union is facing according to Cypriot respondents of a recent Eurobarometer survey on the EU’s challenges and priorities.

According to the same findings, on average in the EU citizens singled out the war in Ukraine, migration and climate change as the main challenges.

In particular regarding challenges, the answer chosen most by Cypriots was irregular migration (64 per cent, compared to 41 per cent in the EU), the cost of living (48 per cent, 32 per cent) and terrorism and security issues (35 per cent, 29 per cent), followed by the war in Ukraine (28 per cent, 50 per cent) and environmental issues and climate change (28 per cent, 35 per cent).

As areas the EU should address as a priority, respondents in Cyprus most frequently mentioned irregular migration (50 per cent, 33 per cent in the EU), followed by security and defence (32 per cent, 29 per cent), the environment and climate change (30 per cent, 33 per cent) and the war in Ukraine (12 per cent, 25 per cent).

The Flash Eurobarometer 550 was conducted between 25 June and 2 July 2024 across the 27 Member States. 25,658 EU citizens were interviewed online, out of which 506 in Cyprus.

Responding to questions on how they see the future of the EU, 59 per cent said they were optimistic (8 per cent very optimistic, 51 per cent rather optimistic) while 37 per cent were pessimistic (29 per cent rather, 8 per cent very). On average in the EU, 58 per cent said they were optimistic (11 per cent very, 47 per cent rather) and 37 per cent said they were pessimistic (28 per cent rather, 9 per cent very).

However, 73 per cent of Cypriots (64 per cent in the EU) said they were concerned about the EU’s security in the next five years (21 per cent very and 52 per cent rather concerned in Cyprus, and 17 per cent very and 47 per cent rather in the EU).

On the EU’s economic outlook in the next five years, Cypriots were somewhat less optimistic than the EU average, as 36 per cent said they were confident in the performance of the EU’s economy (4 per cent very, 32 per cent rather), compared to 50 per cent in the EU (8 per cent very, 42 per cent rather), while 51 per cent of Cypriots was less confident (45 per cent somewhat unconfident, 16 per cent very) compared to 45 per cent in the EU (32 per cent and 13 per cent).

Regarding the strength of the EU’s democracy in the next five years, 53 per cent of Cypriots said they were confident (12 per cent very, 41 per cent somewhat) while in the EU the corresponding percentage stood at 55 per cent (10 per cent, 45 per cent). Also, 45 per cent of Cypriots were not confident (36 per cent somewhat unconfident, 9 per cent very), compared to 41 per cent in the EU (28 per cent, 13 per cent).