Citizens of the New EU Member States and Development Aid

Since 1973, the European Commission has been monitoring the evolution of public opinion in the Member States. In addition to half-yearly Standard Eurobarometers where an essentially standard set of questions are posed, 'Special' one-off surveys are also carried out, usually at the request of particular DGs of the European Commission on particular topics.

The two most recent enlargements of the European Union in May 2004 and January 2007 have brought new challenges for communicating various issues in the field of EU development aid.

Today, the EU is the largest aid donor in the world and, in concrete terms, in 2006, the Member States and the European Commission contributed nearly 100€ per citizen to development aid1. It is important to examine the level of awareness of this particular sector in the new Member States given that one of the core roles of the Directorate
General for Development is to communicate with the public on development aid issues.

As this study proves, there is certainly a need in the 12 new Member States (NMS12) for more information about EU development aid. The study reveals a lack of knowledge
about the EU as a development aid actor yet it also shows that citizens seem to be engaged when the aims of EU development aid are discussed in general.

In this context, the DG for Development launched this survey in order to address the issue of public opinion in the NMS12, to provide incentives for national and European
debates on development aid issues, and to provide a starting point for shaping EC communication on the topic.