Brussels, 18/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - With Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the European Convention, preparing to report to the European Council of Thessaloniki, the initial results of the latest Eurobarometer survey show that there is strong support for the European Consitution throughout Europe. The poll, which questioned more than 16,000 people, also showed that a large majority of people wanted to keep at least one Commissioner per Member State, and back the idea of an EU Foreign Minister. However, the survey did reveal considerable ignorance about the Convention's work. Furthermore, support for the euro within the eurozone has increased since the last survey, which was carried out in the autumn.
The Eurobarometer "59" survey of spring 2003 was conducted in the 15 Member States between 18 March and 30 April, in part during the Iraqi conflict. It shows that many citizens are largely ignorant of the Convention's work. For each of seven questions on the Convention, over 50% of respondents chose the "don't know" option. Despite this lack of knowledge, 63% of those questioned support the idea of a European Consitution (77% in Italy, but only 43% in Denmark), with only 10% declaring themselves against it. Seven out of ten respondents said that they wished to keep at least one Commissioner per Member State, and most feel that this would not hamper the running of the Union. Most respondents thought that the President of the Commission should be directly elected by the citizens of the EU.
Half of all EU citizens consider the current length of the Presidency of the European Council too short to achieve significant results, and that it should therefore be extended. Some 47% want the right of veto to be maintained, in order to safeguard essential national interests. 64% think that the EU should have its own Foreign Affairs Minister (81% in Italy, but only 40% in Denmark), and around seven out of ten believe the EU should have its own seat in the UN Security Council, a rapid military reaction force, and common policies for immigration and asylum. Around 77% believe that the EU's foreign policy should be independent of that of the United States, while 83% expect the Member States to adopt a common position in case of international conflict. The citizens still prefer the EU to take decisions on European defence issues, rather than national governments or NATO. Over two-thirds support the idea of a common foreign policy, and almost three-quarters back a common defence and security policy.
50% felt that their country had benefited by its membership of the EU, and 29% think the opposite. Within the eurozone, 75% of respondents were in favour of the single currency, which equates to four points higher than last autumn. Support has risen by 8 points in Germany, and 6 in Italy. Support for the euro in the "pre-in" countries has slackened off since the autumn, although most Danish respondents were in favour of the single currency.
The survey also reveals a decline since last autumn in the image of the United States concerning its role in the fight against terrorism and poverty, the protection of the environment, the growth of the world economy and the search for world peace. However, confidence has increased in the media, justice, the police, and voluntary organisations, but fallen in the United Nations, big business, trade unions, political parties, the EU and national governments. Lastly, the majority of citizens continues to support EU enlargement, although the number in favour of the process has declined since the last survey. (Eurobarometer 59can be found at the following address: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion).