Brussels, 06/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - A flash Eurobarometer survey on cultural diversity has been carried out at the request of the European Commission as part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008. Over 27,000 randomly selected citizens aged 15 years and above were interviewed in the 27 member states of the EU on their relations with people of different cultures, on their attitude toward cultural diversity and on initiatives organised next year on this theme. The survey was held between 13 and 17 November 2007. The main results were: 1) Day-to-day interaction among people belonging to different cultures is a reality in Europe: two-thirds of respondents were able to recall interaction with at least one person of a different culture during the week preceding the survey. The highest ratios of citizens having contacts with other cultures were reported in Luxembourg (82%), Ireland (77%), UK (76%) and Austria (75%), with the lowest level of interaction in Estonia (43%) and Romania (44%); 2) A large majority of EU citizens believe people with a different background enrich the cultural life of their own country: - Residents of member states that naturally have more interaction with people of a different culture are the most convinced that such contacts are a boost to their own country's cultural life (Luxembourg, Sweden, Ireland, Netherlands and UK). The highest levels of disagreement with this are to be found in Malta, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania. Overall, young people, people with the highest levels of education and those living in cities are more likely to think that cultural diversity is an asset to their own cultural life.
3) cultural dialogue is as enriching as carrying on family and cultural traditions: a high number of citizens
(83%) value the benefits of intercultural contacts, and over two thirds think that family (cultural) traditions should be followed by the younger generation. 55% of respondents agreed with these two points, while 25% (especially the youngest) consider that cultural openness does not go hand-in-hand with the need to consciously maintain one's own traditions; 4) the term “intercultural dialogue” has a variety of meanings: “conversation”, “cooperation”, “exchange” and “mutual understanding” across all nations, religions and cultures were the meanings most frequently put forward by respondents. Citizens of the new member states tend to be very much pro-diversity, but are also the keenest on preserving their own cultures. This was the case for the Poles (75%), Czechs (74%) and Cypriots (also 74%); 5) interest in the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue: almost two thirds of respondents displayed interest in the events organised. For further information go to: http: //ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm (I.L.)