| Author (Person) | Carstens, Karen |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.8, No.46, 19.12.02, p4 |
| Publication Date | 19/12/2002 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 19/12/02 By A decade after the concept of "EU citizenship" was introduced, the Irish and the Finns know more about it than most, while the British know the least, according to a Eurobarometer survey. Carried out by the European Commission in October via phone interviews in all 15 member states and released on Monday (16 December), the survey also found that people are more aware of the rights conferred by Union citizenship than the fact it exists. At the same time, it found that only one-fifth of Europeans feel they are well informed (primarily through the media and internet) about these rights. "The results are somewhat contradictory," the Commission said. "The general public was familiar with most of the rights of Union citizens, but the term itself was not well recognised, even if the majority had heard about it." Some 70% of respondents had heard about the term Union citizenship, introduced in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. But only about one-third know what it really means. Another third had heard about it but was not sure about the meaning, while the rest had never heard of the term at all. The member states in which Union citizenship is best known are Portugal, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg and Ireland, where 80% of respondents were familiar with the term. Of these, the Luxembourgers beat the rest; 55% know the exact meaning. Union citizenship is least known in Sweden, Greece and the UK, where more than 40% of people interviewed had never even heard about it. The proportion of those who knew the term's exact meaning was also the smallest in these three member states (about 20%). Overall, 60% of respondents knew that Union citizenship is acquired automatically by having the nationality of a member state and 89% knew that Union citizens can work in any member state. But 57% believed that a work permit is needed, even if this is not the case. Yet while nearly 90% knew that they are both Union and member state citizens, almost one-third of all EU citizens and 53% of Britons mistakenly thought they could choose not be Union citizens. The survey also included a question on awareness of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. Only 43% have heard about it and even less - a mere 8% - know what it is. And 57% were not aware of it at all, with the highest "never heard of" proportions in the UK, Greece and Sweden (almost 70%). The findings led the Commission to a sobering yet unsurprising conclusion: "This means that in many member states the term "Union citizenship" is seen as a vague and abstract concept." A decade after the concept of 'EU citizenship' was introduced, the Irish and the Finns know more about it than most, while the British know the least, according to a Eurobarometer survey released on 16 December 2002. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
