By Martin Banks - 7th April 2010
But we believe this trust is fragile
Jere Sullivan
A new survey says that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) continue to be the most trusted institutions in Europe.
The poll, of almost 5000 people in 22 countries, says that NGOs command trust among 62 per cent of the public – higher than the figures for business, government or the media.
Of the four, public trust in the media is the lowest, according to the survey.
Among member states, the survey says that trust in government is highest in the Netherlands, at 76 per cent, and lowest in Poland and Ireland (32 and 31 per cent respectively).
The poll of people aged 25-64 was carried out by the Edelman Trust organisation.
Its annual barometer is a global survey of opinion leaders and specifically gauges their level of trust in government, business, media and NGOs.
It looks closely at how people form their opinions on trust, who influences them most, where they get their information from in the first place and which institutions they trust most.
Jere Sullivan, chairman of Global Public Affairs, one of the organisations involved in the survey, said, "Coming out of a global economic downturn we saw a rebound in the trust levels in business for a number of EU markets.
"But we believe this trust is fragile, based on a growing concern that once out of the economic crisis, it will be 'business as usual'."
"Scores were up for government, but they still trail business and NGOS, demonstrating the need for collaboration amongst all three groups to make effective change in policy."
"In Europe, we continue to see the rise of digital communications such as search engines and facebook as a trusted source of information with opinion elites, to the point where they are now on par with corporate communications and many traditional media outlets," said Sullivan.
"This reinforces our position that digital outreach for communicating and building support on important issues is now a critical component of any public affairs programme."
The results of the survey were presented at a debate in Brussels hosted by Edelman/The Centre think tank.
It included Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman, Leo Cendrowicz, Time Magazine's Brussels correspondent, and Jules Kortenhorst, CEO of the European Climate Foundation.
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