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Swedes' euro enthusiasm hits historic low

Published: 12 Dec 12 12:07 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/45016/20121212/

Swedish interest in joining the eurozone has never been lower, show new statistics from Statistics Sweden (Statistiska centralbyrån) that looked at attitudes in November 2012.

If the Swedish government announced a new referendum on whether to adopt the common European currency, 81.6 percent of Swedes would vote no.

Only 9.6 percent would opt in, while another 8 percent told pollsters they would be undecided if push came to shove.

The attitudes of both women and men toward the euro have soured further, although Swedes were sceptical already in May when the last poll took place and showed 77 percent of Swedes were against the euro.

The number of women who would vote no has increased by 3 percentage points, while the same figure for men increased by 5 percent.

Those who said they would vote yes in May had fallen - for women, from 12 percent in the spring to today's 8 percent.

While only 8 percent of men supported joining the euro, down 7 percentage points.

The poll also showed a slight drop in the number of people who support Sweden's EU membership, down to 44.6 percent from 46.9 percent in May.

The proportion against EU membership was 26.3 percent, up from 24.2 percent in May, with 29 percent saying they had no opinion.

Both changes are statistically significant, Statistics Sweden confirmed.

TT/The Local/at
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13:24 December 12, 2012 by Eric1
Swedes have been very wise to stay out of the EU. It's another layer of taxation so some socialist can have paid lunches, and cocktail parties. That's all it's worth.
20:27 December 12, 2012 by Social Hypocrisy
I commend Swedens and any other countries desire to resist EU integration... that doesnt mean its not going to happen.

Politics and immigration policy are part of the same parcel and part of a larger consolidation plan to create one of the few economic superpowers of the future.

What most people dont understand is that consolidation is not about choice, its about survival.
21:27 December 12, 2012 by RobinHood
@ social hypocracy

Democracy in Europe was hard fought for, and bought with the blood and sacrifice of millions of very brave people. I think the overwhelming view of the Swedish people, as expressed by democratic referendum, is worth rather more than your frivolous comment suggests. Don't you?
04:07 December 13, 2012 by Carbarrister
The Euro is fine in concept. The problem is that the criteria set out in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 for countries joining and remaining in the European Currency Union were not enforced. As a result the Euro is in trouble and I believe most Swedes do not want to become more entangled in Euro currency problems than they are just because they are EU members.
07:48 December 13, 2012 by Will1
It seems to me the only people against the EU and further integration are the old out of touch genarations. I have lived in 4 different EU countries in the past few years and have studied in 3 and also done an Erasmus exchange during my earlier studies (none of which would be possible without the EU, or would be significantly harder and more expensive) and the majority opinion among the yonger people is that they like the oportunities EU has created for them and further integration is favored.

It would be great to see EU states look past their differences and work together to present a stronger voice on the world stage as a unified federation of EU states.
10:11 December 13, 2012 by Marc the Texan
@Will1

How has the EU made your life better?
16:37 December 13, 2012 by Twiceshy
thelocal.se ... for when you need to learn that Sweden is not in the EU!
08:43 December 14, 2012 by Domhangairt
In the face of Chinese, American, and Indian imperialism, I think a league of European nations sharing a common foreign policy and defence policy, makes sense. However I think that the EU project is totally undemocratic, and that Sweden should pull out of it. EFTA is a better idea. Norway has been a member of EFTA for years- it costs them money, but much less than it would cost them if they joined the EU. At the end of the day, why should Germans, Swedes, English, Scots, etc pay for the bad governance of southern and eastern European countries. These countries need to be overhauled, before bail outs, are paid to them. In Scotland, Scots are fast loosing interest in the EU- having been very pro- EU for years. Even some prominant Scottish nationalists- previously pro- EU- are now calling for Scotland to switch to EFTA, in the event of an independence vote in the 2014 referendum. As far as I'm concerned, soem of these EU politicians are a bunch of paedophiles- just read about the Marc Du Troux scandal in Belgium- esposed a Europe wide paedophile ring of politicians stetching from Belgium to Latvia. The EU is controlled by the banking cartels- which is all totally undemocratic. Get out now while you still can.
16:03 December 14, 2012 by james_g
@Will1 - it seems to you wrong then. Firstly, old(er) generations (not genarations) are most certainly not necessarily out of touch. Secondly, the majority opinion among younger (not yonger) people, in the UK at least, is certainly not pro-EU and further integration. The EU is a corrupt monolithic anti-democratic dictatorship of oligarchs , plutocrats, gravy-train riders and financial institutions. I'm all for friendship between nations, co-operation and collaboration but very definitely NOT in the form of the EU in all its glory! The original version of EFTA sounds fine to me.
01:16 December 15, 2012 by ffa11
Some confusion here.... We are in the EU, but we havent adapted euro currency and thus are not in EMU/eurozone.
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