Brussels, 31/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - According to the latest Euro barometer 214 survey on the future constitutional treaty, carried out in November 2004 among 25,000 people, following the signing of the constitution in Rome, with the exception of the United Kingdom, opinions tend to favour the draft constitutional treaty in all EU Member States. On average, 49% of those asked approved of the Constitution, 16% were opposed and 35% had no opinion about it. The survey also revealed that 56% of citizens in Europe knew very little about the content of the constitution and that 33% admitted that they had not heard anything about it. This information deficit is sharpest in ten Member States (Denmark, Spain, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic) where these countries announced that they were holding referendums for ratifying the Constitution. The European Commission has made available several information tools for Member States to the tune of 4.5 million euros as part of the PRINCE programme.
The most recent Euro barometer survey analysed the following points: real level of knowledge about the text, support or opposition to it, the probability that citizens will vote in countries where there will be a referendum, the level of confidence of citizens to available sources of information, and the areas where those interviewed want to see the citizen's right of initiative included in the Constitution.
Only 11% of those interviewed thought they knew the whole contents of the Constitution. A third declared that they had never heard of it. This information deficit is highest in Cyprus (65%), United Kingdom (50%), Greece (49%) and Ireland (45%). It is lowest in the Netherlands, Slovakia (22%) and Luxembourg (23%). The analysis of socio-demographic variations demonstrated significant differences. Senior managers (86%), men (73%) and those aged between 40-54 (73%) are the groups most likely to say that they have heard of the Constitution, whereas home workers (56%), women (62%) and those aged between 15-24 (57%) are less likely to have heard of it.
What do Europeans know about the Constitution? The questionnaire proposed yes or no answers to questions such as: does the Constitution envisage the disappearance of national citizenship, a million EU citizens can ask for the adoption of a European law or the creation of a direct European tax? The highest levels of right answers are in Finland (60%), Denmark (59%), Slovenia (58%), but much lower in Ireland (33%), Portugal (33%) and Spain (35%). For getting hold of information Europeans trust their governments to do this job (22%), journalists (16%), the European Parliament (16%) and the Commission (15%). They want the right of initiative mainly in the areas of employment (57%), pensions (32%) and education (31%).
Do Europeans support the Constitution? Significant differences between Member States. 72% of Italians, 70% of Belgians, 63% of Dutch approve of the Constitution, but only 27% of Swedish, 23% of Cypriots and 20% of British do. The United Kingdom is the only Member State where opponents (30%) are in the majority to the Constitution. Euro barometer illustrates a close link between the lack of knowledge and the low level of support for the Constitution. It also demonstrates that the more informed citizens are the more they support the Constitution.
The ratification processes is on course and is an excellent occasion for informing citizens about Europe in general and about the Constitution in particular. In a note on strategy “Communicating Europe” to Member States at the European Council of December 2004, Vice-president Margot Wallström described the active role the Commission hoped to play in supporting the Constitution, while leaving it up to Member States to decide on the implementation of the awareness campaigns. Ms Wallström is seeking at the same time to continue its more general action on the European Union by focusing on the impact of Community policies on the daily lives of its citizens. All Commissioners will have to take part in debates in their Member State. Margot Wallström indicated that a series of information tools would be available for Member States if they requested them: opinion polls, an interinstitutional web site, marketing products, brochures for the broad public and complete copes of the Constitution in the twenty official languages of the EU. Several initiatives are envisaged: “the operations 1000 debates on Europe” Springtime in Europe” seminars for the local and regional press, mobilisation of multiple information networks (Team Europe, Europe Day 9 May, a free call centre Europe Direct.