Euro-smart but not ‘European’
Greeks appear as the eurozone’s citizens most familiar with the new, common currency but are less likely than any of their partners to think that its introduction made them feel more European. According to the European Union’s Eurobarometer poll, which was conducted between March 11 and 19 in the 12 eurozone members and included 500 Greek respondents out of 7,532 overall, 84 percent of Greeks said they recognized the new euro coins with ease and only 15 percent reported difficulty, against respective rates of 38 and 61 percent for the Irish, who appeared to be the least familiar with the new currency. According to the results of the poll, which were released yesterday, 63 percent of Greek respondents consider that the transition to the euro was satisfactory, 14 percent said they were not satisfied and the rest were ambivalent. The most satisfied among eurozone citizens were the Belgians with 94 percent, while the eurozone average was 84 percent. Greeks also showed the second lowest rate of satisfaction at having abandoned their national currency, 59 percent, against 49 percent for the Germans. The average was 65 percent. Greeks, with 75 percent, were just above the average (74 percent) of eurozone citizens in thinking that prices were rounded off upwards rather than downwards during the transition; 67 percent said they had not changed their consumer habits (compared to a 68-percent average). Finally, Greeks appeared the least confident that the introduction of the common currency had made them feel more «European;» 40 percent were positive and 55 percent negative. The respective European averages were 64 and 34 percent.
