A total of 67% of Romanians believe that the country has benefited from EU membership. The main reasons are that the EU offers Romanians new job opportunities (39%), it improves the citizens’ standard of living (26%), and contributes to economic growth in the country (24%), the latest Eurobarometer survey by the European Parliament showed.

Furthermore, 43% of the Romanian respondents believe that the EU should play a greater role in protecting citizens from crises. At the same time, 73% of Romanians say that member states should be more united, and 71% believe that the EU needs more means to face today’s global challenges.

In a context of geopolitical uncertainty, 68% of Europeans believe that the EU should play a greater role in protecting its citizens from global crises and security risks. Nine out of ten Europeans (90%) want member states to be more united, and over three quarters (77%) believe that the EU needs more means to face today’s global challenges.

According to European respondents, the EU needs to focus on defense and security (37%) and competitiveness, economy, and industry (32%), in order to strengthen its position in the world and to cope with the current political and economic context. For the Romanian respondents, the EU’s priorities for securing its position in the world should be food security and agriculture (34%) and defense and security (30%).

The Romanian citizens participating in the survey also believe that the European Parliament’s priorities should be: inflation, price increases and the cost of living (42%), support for the economy and the creation of new jobs (37%), agriculture and food security (29%), followed by the fight against poverty and social exclusion (28%) and more support for public health (28%).

At the European level, respondents indicated that the European Parliament should give priority to inflation, price increases, and the cost of living (41%), defense and security (34%), and combating poverty and social exclusion (31%). 

To invest more effectively in things that matter, almost eight in ten Europeans believe that more projects should be funded by the EU rather than by individual member states (78%). Meanwhile, 60% of respondents in Romania believe that more projects should be funded by the EU rather than by individual member states.

A total of 68% of Romanians say that the European Parliament should have all the information and means necessary to control EU spending properly. In addition, 85% of Europeans, namely the majority of respondents in all Member States (61% of Romanians), agree that the allocation of funds to member states should be conditional on their respect for the rule of law and democratic principles.

The European Parliament’s Spring 2025 Eurobarometer survey was carried out by Verian research agency from May 5 to May 29, 2025, in all 27 EU Member States. The survey was conducted face-to-face, with video interviews (CAVI) used additionally in some Member States (Denmark, Malta, Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden). A total of 26,410 interviews were conducted, of which 1,056 in Romania. The EU results were weighted according to the size of the population in each country.

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simona@romania-insider.com