Brussels, 15/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - Voters staying away from the European elections on 7 June may reach a record level of 66%, according to a Eurobarometer survey carried out on behalf of the European Parliament between mid-January and mid-February 2009 in 27 member states (27,218 citizens were interviewed) and published today on the EP's website. This record confirms the constant drop-off of turnout rates for the European elections over the last 30 years. Rates have fallen from 63% in 1979 (when the EU had just nine member states) to 45.7% in 2004 (25 member states). The Polish are at the top of the leaderboard for disaffected citizenship - just 17% of them definitely intend to vote - followed by the Austrians, with just 21%. The British (22% intending to vote) confirmed their inclination, whilst the French were at the middle of the table, with 43% intending to vote. Belgium (70%) and Luxembourg (62%), where voting is obligatory, showed the highest intended voting figures. The last countries to join the EU, in 2007, Bulgaria and Romania, were at 31% and 34% respectively. These disappointing figures must, however, be taken in context: the surveyors stated that no particular rate of turnout can be deduced from these figures, because, five and a half months ahead of the elections, the citizens are still responding in a "logic of opinion", which must be taken separately from the "logic of election" (in the two months preceding the vote).
The reasons behind low turnout - Other lessons learned from this survey: more than half of Europeans (53%) said that they were "uninterested" in the European elections and only 16% of them knew the date. The reasons for this lack of interest can be traced to a lack of awareness of the role of the MEPs (64%) and of European affairs (59%). Only 53% of people asked knew that the MEPs were elected by direct universal suffrage. 62% of respondents believe that voting will not change anything (with Bulgaria, Austria and Latvia the most disillusioned), whilst 55% believe that the EP does not tackle the day-to-day concerns of the European citizens. Those who choose not to vote because they are against Community integration made up 20% of the representative sample (the Austrians were in the lead with 35%, followed by the Greeks and the Swedes). The EP - which has spent 18 million on its awareness campaign targeting young people (the most likely to stay at home) and women - has issued a press release in which it anticipates that "interest in the elections and information about them will gather in pace from April, when the various elements of this campaign become more visible in all of the countries of the EU". The visibility of the EU, moreover, is directly influenced by the "media souvenir" left with the citizens, with just 36% of survey respondents having read, heard or seen an article on the EU in the national media. The deficit of information on Europe is greatest in the United Kingdom, France and Italy.
A falling index of confidence - The conclusion drawn by Eurobarometer is somewhat alarmist. They believe that the data gathered by this survey reflect "a significant drop in confidence in the institutions". The index of confidence of the Europeans in their institutions is indeed falling, the EP from 51% to 45% and the Commission from 47% to 42%. Against a backdrop of economic and financial crisis, 57% of the citizens interviewed are particularly concerned by unemployment (up 10 points in a year), which "is by far the campaign area which the Europeans wish to see tackled as a priority during the electoral debate", the survey showed. This is followed by growth (52%) and inflation (sharply down). The gross results of the survey and an analytic summary are available on the website of the EP. (Y.P./transl.fl)