| Author (Person) | Carstens, Karen |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.8, No.38, 24.10.02, p6 |
| Publication Date | 24/10/2002 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 24/10/02 By SOME 68 of respondents in member states 'are either totally or mostly in favour of enlargement', according to a Eurobarometer poll on the expansion of the EU. While this may seem at first glance like a very positive result, the wording of that question has been changed from past surveys. These merely asked if people were 'for' or 'against' enlargement. Jean-Christophe Filori, spokesman for Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen, denied that changing the wording of the enlargement question had resulted in a rose-tinted picture. 'This is a different type of survey,' he said, one that shows there is still 'a huge lack of information' among EU citizens regarding enlargement. 'For example, if you ask them point-blank, most people cannot even tell you the names of three accession candidates,' he added with a Gallic shrug. 'I'm not just standing up here jumping up and down going 'hooray, hooray'. It's not necessarily such an overwhelmingly great result,' he conceded, adding that a lot of work still remains to be done in convincing EU citizens to back the 15-nation bloc's eastward expansion. The survey, carried out by Eos Gallup Europe between 11-21 September, was specifically conducted for the Commission's enlargement directorate and is not to be confused with the regular Eurobarometer surveys which ask a wider range of questions. The first of four special Eurobarometer surveys - commissioned by Verheugen to track the evolution of attitudes on the impending addition of new members to the Union - questioned 15,088 EU citizens aged 15 or above about knowledge, attitudes, importance and consequences of enlargement. In the last major Eurobarometer survey, 50 of respondents were 'for', 30 'against' and 20 'undecided' on enlargement. The new survey also found that 'there is a good overall awareness of enlargement', with three in four citizens having heard of it. But the level of knowledge varies from 90 in Austria, Denmark and Finland to 51 in the UK. Also, knowledge about which countries are actually candidates for accession is low, and was clearly focused on just three - Poland, the Czech Republic and Turkey - even though the EU has yet to enter into negotiations with the last of these. Moreover, 69 of respondents said they think enlargement is 'important or very important' for their country. But three in four respondents believed that decision-making will become more difficult and 63 said enlargement will be very costly for their country. According to the Commission, there was also 'a common view of the practical benefits of enlargement', such as the opening up of markets and greater cultural diversity. However, there was also 'a common concern over internal security issues', with 60 of respondents fearing it will become more difficult to control crime and drug smuggling. 'The perception that there will be large movements of people from the new to the old member states was particularly strong in Spain (82), Portugal (77), Luxembourg (76) and Greece (72). Report on the results of a Eurobarometer poll on attitudes to the expansion of the EU. |
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