By Martin Banks - 5th March 2008
One in five respondents to an EU-wide survey do not know there are elections to the European parliament, it has been revealed.
Some 20 per cent of 27,000 people surveyed in the face to face Eurobarometer poll said they had no idea how MEPs are elected.
The results, presented to a conference in parliament on Wednesday, give "cause for concern", according to MEPs and Leendert de Voogd of TNS, the company which conducted the poll in each of the EU's 27 member states.
Other findings show that only 10 per cent of respondents knew that the elections were being held next year and just two per cent could name both the month and year of the poll.
Parliament scores best when it comes to public perception of the various EU institutions with 35 per cent of those surveyed saying it had a "fairly positive" image.
The commission, however, is seen as the "bad cop" of the EU, largely because it is perceived as the body which is directly responsible for implementation of sometimes controversial and unwanted EU legislation in member states.
The "vast majority" of people thought that parliament plays a significant role in the EU decision-making process, says the poll, conducted last autumn.
But, according to de Voogd, parliament is still blighted by a lack of public awareness of how it operates.
"A lot of people, for example, simply have no idea about political groups and the emphasis on consensus building," he said.
"There is definitely room for improvement in this area."
His comments are echoed by Spanish MEP Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a vice president of parliament, who took part in the debate.
He said, "It is obviously a cause for concern that some people do not even know about the existence of the elections to this assembly.
"That reflects badly on the EU and member states who, between them, should do something about this."
Dr Atle Alvheim, a political scientist with a Norwegian research company, said he believed voting should be compulsory in the Euro poll.
"It is compulsory in Belgium and Luxembourg and look at the turnout in those countries," he said.
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