bne:Chart – Czechs still suspicious of euro, but support on the rise

By bne IntelliNews May 20, 2015

Henry Kirby in London -

 

Czechs are still overwhelmingly against joining the euro, according a recent study by the Prague-based Public Opinion Research Centre, but support for dropping the koruna in favour of the common European currency is on the rise.

The study, published on May 12, asked respondents to rate support for or opposition to joining the euro. More than two-thirds of respondents were opposed to the euro, as the first bne:Chart shows, while more than two-fifths said they strongly opposed it.

 

Despite the high level of opposition, the proportion of respondents in favour of joining the Eurozone increased by 5 percentage points since last year, from 19% to 24%, as the second bne:Chart shows.

 

While demographic data from the study was not available, an accompanying report said that euro opponents were more likely to be lower income citizens, pensioners, unskilled workers or farmers, politically left-wing or non-voters.

Those in favour of the euro were more likely to be higher income citizens, satisfied with the political situation in the Czech Republic, university educated and more right-wing in their political beliefs.

The study also asked respondents to rate the effect that EU membership has had on various aspects of life in the Czech Republic as either good, bad or neither good nor bad. As the third bne:Chart shows, nearly all areas were considered to have seen little change since 2004, with a change of at most a few percentage points in either direction. The biggest swing in opinion, however, was regarding currency stability.

 

Since the Czech Republic’s 2004 accession to the EU, the percentage of respondents who believe the EU has had a negative effect on the koruna has more than doubled, from 14% at the time of accession to 37% in April of this year. Those who believe that membership has benefitted the Czech currency has fallen from 25% in 2004 to 14% in 2015 – the lowest level since the study began.

 

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