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Survey: More Czechs are pro-European despite skepticism about domestic developments

by AI | 23.Jan 2025 | Europe in brief AI

In the latest STEM survey, 72 percent of people identified as Europeans, the same as in 2021. Year-on-year, the share of people who feel European has increased by two points.

EU flags fly in the wind in front of the buildings of the EU Council and the European Council in Brussels. Photo: © European Union

Prague – The attitude of Czechs towards the European Union has improved again according to the STEM agency, and in some areas last year, the number of pro-European people was the highest in several past years. For example, 51 percent of the public was satisfied with the country’s membership in the EU, and in a hypothetical referendum, three-fifths of citizens would vote for the Czech Republic to remain in the union, which was the highest since 2019. A quarter of people last year expressed support for the introduction of the euro in the republic, a similar proportion was last recorded by the agency 11 years ago. This was revealed by a survey, the results of which are provided by STEM to CTK today.

According to STEM analyst Martin Kratochvil, the number of people against the EU has decreased despite the fact that skepticism about domestic development prevails among the Czech public. “Recent crises, especially the inflationary one, still reflect in the public’s mood and, in particular, the overall bad mood. Worse than the actual financial situation of households is the persistent impression that our country is not doing well and not going in the right direction,” stated Kratochvil.

From the perspective of attitude towards the EU and Europe, the analyst considers it interesting that significantly more Czechs feel like Europeans than those who feel sympathy towards the EU. In the latest STEM survey, 72 percent of people identified themselves as Europeans, the same as in 2021. Year-on-year, the proportion of people who feel European increased by two points. About ten percentage points fewer people would vote to remain in the EU, and ten percentage points fewer people declared satisfaction with membership in the EU. Nevertheless, their numbers have increased compared to previous years.

The number of Czechs who stated that they would vote in a hypothetical referendum to remain in the union increased year-on-year by four points to 60 percent, and those satisfied with Czech membership in the EU rose by six points to 51 percent. According to analysts, the Czech attitude towards the adoption of the euro is consistently low, the reason being that Czechs associate the euro with price increases and a sense of loss of part of their national identity. Nevertheless, support for the adoption of the European currency is gradually rising and increased year-on-year by four points to 25 percent last year.

STEM conducted the survey last year from August 29 to September 8 among a thousand people over the age of 18. For comparison, it also used older data from the Trendy research series, which was conducted with a comparable methodology also among a thousand respondents. (January 23)