Twenty years after the euro’s introduction – and ten years on from the start of the eurocrisis – the single currency boasts approval numbers among the highest in its history. A full 75% of eurozone citizens say they favor the currency, according to a Eurobarometer survey conducted between November 8 and 22, 2018. And 62% of all EU citizens say the same.

Approval of the euro has been growing steadily since the depths of the eurocrisis in 2012 when just 62% if eurozone citizens thought well of the single currency, which was an all-time low.

Moreover, respondents in 23 out of the 28 member states indicated that they felt the European economy was performing well rather than poorly. The five with greater negative feelings included Greece, France, Spain, Italy, and the UK.  Lithuanians, Poles, and Austrians gave the economy the highest marks. In general, the Eastern and Central Europeans tended to view the European economy positively, giving it disproportionately high approval and low disapproval marks. In start contrast, they saw their own national economies in a much more critical light: in Bulgaria only 18% considered their national economic situation as “good,” in Croatia just 16%.

(Text author: Paul Hockenos)