Download the graphic presentation: EN_04.2025 SURVEY Public attitudes towards economic patriotism
Bucharest, 10.04.2025 – The latest INSCOP Research sociological study, “The population’s attitude towards economic patriotism and the vulnerabilities of the democratic regime”, conducted at the request of the Concordia Confederation, was launched on Thursday, April 10, 2025, during the NEW ECONOMIC PATRIOTISM event, organized by NewMoney.ro and Informat.ro, as part of the NewMoney.Talks Conference series.
Methodology
- The survey was conducted by INSCOP Research
- Data were collected between March 13 and March 17, 2025
- Research method: sociological questionnaire survey
- Data were collected using the CATI method (telephone interviews), the stratified multi-stage sample volume was 1000 persons, representative of the significant socio-demographic categories (gender, age, occupation) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania, aged 18 years and over.
- The maximum permissible error of the data is ± 3.1% at 95% confidence.
Country direction
60.9% of Romanians think that things in Romania are going in the wrong direction, while 28% think they are going in the right direction and 11.1% don’t know or don’t answer.
EU and NATO membership
89.7% of Romanians believe that it is in the national interest for Romania to remain in the EU and NATO, while 6.4% think the opposite. The share of non-answers is 3.9%.
EU membership and national sovereignty
40.6% of those surveyed believe that Romania’s membership of the European Union limits national sovereignty too much, while 51.6% think the opposite. 7.8% do not know or do not answer.
Protecting economic interests in the EU
80.7% of Romanians believe that in order to protect its economic interests, Romania should negotiate more favorable conditions within the European Union, 10% should do nothing, because economic and national interests are protected. Only 4.8% think that Romania should leave the European Union. The share of non-answers is 4.5%.
Level of foreign investment in Romania
Asked how they consider the level of foreign investment in Romania to be compared to EU countries, 8.4% of the survey participants consider it to be much higher, 9.3% somewhat higher, 26.3% somewhat lower, 24.4% much lower, and 21.3% about the same. 10.2% do not know or do not answer.
Increasing foreign investment in Romania
67.9% of Romanians would like foreign investment in Romania to increase, 14.8% would like it to decrease and 14.5% would like it to stay the same. The share of non-answers is 2.8%.
The multinationals investing in Romania
71.1% of respondents have a generally good opinion about multinational companies investing in Romania, while 24.6% have a bad opinion. 4.3% do not know or do not answer.
The view on EU companies investing in Romania
73.6% of respondents have a generally good opinion about EU companies investing in Romania, while 18.3% have a bad opinion. The share of non-respondents is 8.1%.
Opinion on Romanian companies investing in other countries
61.5% of those surveyed have a good opinion about Romanian companies investing in other countries, while 29.6% have a bad opinion. 8.9% do not know or do not answer.
The good opinion about Romanian companies investing in other countries is mainly held by people with higher education and people with high and very high incomes, while the bad opinion is mainly held by people with primary education and people with very low and low incomes.
Opinion on Romanian companies expanding in the EU
82.1% of those surveyed have a good opinion of Romanian companies expanding in the EU, while 12% have a bad opinion. The share of non-respondents is 5.9%.
Preferential rules to support Romanian companies
49.7% of the respondents agree with the statement “The Romanian Government should promote the same rules for Romanian and foreign companies alike”. 46.4% agree with the statement ” The Romanian Government should promote preferential rules to support Romanian companies, even if this would discourage investments by foreign/multinational companies “. 3.9% don’t know or don’t answer.
Are of the opinion that the Romanian Government should promote preferential rules to support Romanian companies, even if this would discourage foreign/multinational companies from investing, especially people aged between 30 and 44 and state employees. Considers that the Romanian Government should promote the same rules for Romanian companies and foreign companies alike, especially for residents of the capital and people with very high income.
More state companies vs more private companies
56.2% are of the opinion that Romania would benefit if there were more state-owned companies on the domestic market. At the other extreme, 38.7% think Romania would benefit from more private companies in the domestic market. The share of non-answers is 5.1%.
Believe that Romania would benefit if there were more state-owned companies on the domestic market, especially for people with primary education and very low incomes. People with higher education and very high incomes share the opposite opinion
Risk of withdrawal of foreign companies
62.9% of Romanians believe that there is a risk that some foreign/multinational companies will leave Romania in the next period. 30.6% think that there is no such risk, 6.2% don’t know/can’t estimate and 0.3% do not answer this question.
Foreign companies presence assessment
53.1% of those interviewed believe that Romania would lose out if there were fewer foreign/multinational companies on the domestic market. 39.6% think that Romania would gain in such a scenario, while 7.3% do not know or do not answer.
Think that Romania would have to lose if there were fewer foreign/multinational companies on the domestic market, especially people aged between 45 and 59, people with higher education and people with high and very high incomes. People with a primary education and people with low and very low incomes share the opposite opinion.
Romanian company conditions
According to 30.5% of the respondents, the most important condition for a company to be considered a Romanian campaign is that the company pays its taxes in Romania. The condition that the majority of employees must be Romanian is the most important for 20.5% of respondents. 18.3% mention having Romanian shareholders/owners, 16.9% that the brand should be Romanian, and 9.1% that the head office should be in Romania. 2.1% indicate another condition, 2.5% do not know/cannot estimate, and 0.1% do not answer.
Supporting foreign companies paying taxes in Romania
According to 77.8% of those surveyed, it is in Romania’s national interest for the state to support foreign companies that pay taxes and duties in Romania. 20.0% are of the contrary opinion, and 2.2% do not know or do not answer.
Supporting Romanian companies looking to invest abroad
61% of those interviewed believe that it is in Romania’s national interest for the state to support Romanian companies wishing to invest abroad. 35.4% are of the opposite opinion, while 3.6% don’t know or do not answer.
Supporting foreign companies working closely with Romanian companies
79.5% of respondents believe that it is in Romania’s national interest for the state to support foreign companies that work closely with Romanian companies . 17.5% are of the contrary opinion, and 3% do not know or do not answer.
Supporting Romanian companies that want to acquire foreign companies in Romania
77.2% of Romanians believe that it is in Romania’s national interest for the Romanian state to support Romanian companies that want to acquire foreign companies in Romania. 19% think the opposite, while 3.8% don’t know or do not answer.
Control over political decisions
15.8% of Romanians believe that “Romania has full control over its political decisions” to a very great extent, 25.8% to a fairly great extent, 24.4% to a fairly small extent and 29.5% to a very small extent or not at all. 4.5% do not know or do not answer.
Control over economic decisions
11.3% of Romanians believe that “Romania has full control over its economic decisions” to a very great extent, 23.9% to a fairly great extent, 29% to a fairly small extent and 29.9% to a very small extent or not at all. 5.9% do not know or do not answer.
Equal application of the law
12.6% of Romanians believe that “the law is applied equally to all citizens” to a very great extent, 17.2% to a fairly great extent, 25.9% to a fairly small extent and 42.6% to a very small extent or not at all. 1.7% do not know or do not answer.
Popular will in presidential elections
40.9% of Romanians believe that ” the election of the president depends only on the citizens’ vote ” to a very great extent, 24.6% to a fairly great extent, 12.6% to a fairly small extent and 19.6% to a very small extent or not at all. 2.3% do not know or do not answer.
Influence of presidential elections by other countries
32.6% of Romanians believe that ” the election of the president is strongly influenced by hostile actions of other states ” to a very great extent, 28.5% to a fairly great extent, 17.1% to a fairly small extent and 18.1% to a very small extent or not at all. 3.7% do not know or do not answer.
Romania’s biggest problem
Asked what Romania’s biggest problem is at the moment, 44% of respondents chose “corruption which amplifies the injustices in society”, 21.8% “political instability and its effects on good governance”, 17.2% “the precarious state of democracy which limits the freedom of people to elect their president”, and 15.1% “economic problems which cause a decrease in purchasing power”. 1.9% do not know or do not answer.
Increasing Romania’s defense spending
In the context of the recent growing discussion that Europe should reduce its military dependence on the US and NATO by increasing defense spending, respondents were asked whether they would agree with such a prospect in order for Romania to defend its sovereignty in case of military aggression. 76.2% support such an increase in defense spending, while 21.1% oppose it and 2.7% do not know or do not answer.
The effect of NATO troop withdrawal on Romania’s security
77.1% of Romanians believe that the withdrawal of NATO troops from Eastern Europe would affect Romania’s national security, while 20.3% share the opposite opinion and 2.6% don’t know or don’t answer.
Download the graphic presentation: EN_04.2025 SURVEY Public attitudes towards economic patriotism
