EU communicates poorly with citizens, survey shows
Does the EU have a communication problem? (Photo: CE)
ALEANDER BALZAN
31.05.2006 @ 09:32 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A large majority of EU citizens feel that that European institutions communicate poorly with them, according to a poll published on Tuesday (30 May) by the Brussels weekly, European Voice.
Some 82% of the poll respondents are unhappy with the level of interaction with the Brussels institutions with only 18% responding favourably.
And around the same large majority (80%) said the council's decision-making process should be open and visible to public scrutiny.
"We are not surprised with this kind of response," said a spokesperson for the communications commissioner, Margot Wallstrom.
These results do not mean that the aims of the Plan D launched by the commission last year to improve democracy in the Union has failed, the spokesperson said.
"Plan D is not a public relations campaign. It is a long term exercise," he added.
Plan D was launched after the rejection of the proposed EU constitution by the French and the Dutch with the aim of promoting democracy, dialogue and debate.
It is clear that the European institutions must work more on strengthening their communication strategy said Mark Penn, director of the consultancy which conducted the survey.
"If we think that the EU voter will fit into the EU system it's a mistake, it is the EU that has to fit in their lives," he added.
Environment (86%), food safety (82%), energy (78%) and trade (73%) are the areas where most European citizens feel that European institutions should be involved.
The poll also shows that half of European citizens believe that EU membership had a positive effect on their country.
Fifty-six percent of the respondents said that membership had a positive effect on their country while 33% responded negatively to this question.
In addition, only 37% believe that the EU had a positive effect on their personal lives, 24% said it had a negative effect while 39% said it had no effect.
Citizens want one seat for Parliament
A large proportion of EU citizens (68%) are against the two seat system for the European Parliament, according to the survey, with Brussels supported by 76% as the favorite location and only 24% in favour of parliament meetings being held in Strasbourg.
The survey shows that the UN is the most trusted institution with 41%, while 37% of the respondents trust the EU compared to only 22% trusting their government.
Old member states tend to trust the EU less than new member states.
"This poll shows that citizens in the original member states have less enthusiasm than those in new member states," Mr Penn said.
"The EU needs to transform itself into a body which is seen as open and transparent about its workings," he added.
Also notable from the survey was that 81% of those interviewed said that the internet is the best type of media to inform them objectively on decisions taken by Brussels.
The Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) poll was conducted on the basis of 1000 interviews of citizens in the 25 EU countries, from 17-21 May. PSB is owned by global public relations and public affairs company Burson-Marsteller.