The Alliance of European Conservatives & Reformists – the political bloc the Conservative Party sits in the European Parliament – has carried out an extensive study of voters from fifteen European countries. The voters and non-voters were asked about the degree of awareness of the political parties and candidates at European level directly after the recent elections.
Eurocrats and Brussels functionaries insist the peoples of Europe know and understand the great work it does in tackling climate change, passing a financial transactional tax, slapping extra regulations on small businesses and ensuring gender balance quotas are met in the underwater fish farming industry. The Brussels bubble, however, demonstrates regularly that its view on what the voters think is often grossly out of touch with reality and the study published by the AECR should be a wake-up call to the federalists who are calling for more Europe – not less.
Just 8.2% of respondents were able to name the European People‘s Party‘s (EPP) lead candidate, Jean Claude Juncker, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg. There is a distinct possibility Junker may secure the position after the haggling, back-biting and negotiations have finished.
General awareness of the candidates is also low: only 13.6% of the respondents could name at least one of the candidates. Even when prompted with all the candidates‘ names, around half of respondents (48.3%) could not recognise the candidates nominated by the European political parties (59.4% of non-voters).
Knowledge of the candidates and the process was significantly higher in countries with a national candidate; where there was no national candidate, ignorance remained high. Jean Claude Juncker was known among 78% of the respondents in Luxemburg, but on average by only 22.2% of those from the other 14 countries polled.
The most recognisable candidate was the German socialist Martin Schulz (30.3%) while Jean-Claude Juncker was recognised by 25.9%. Least known was the Green candidate, Ska Keller (5%).
Awareness of political parties at the European level is very low – less than 9% were able to recall one of the European level political parties. 44% of respondents replied instead incorrectly with the name of a national political party. When prompted with the names of all the political parties at the European level, awareness remains relatively low – 43% of respondents did not know any of the parties (30% of voters, 55% of non-voters).
Fewer than 3 out of 10 respondents knew the names of the largest European political parties. The Party of European Socialists (PES) 27.2%; the European Green Party (EGP) 26.1%; the European People‘s Party (EPP) 24.4%.
Particularly low is the level of awareness of the political parties in countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and the UK, while it is particularly high in Spain.
The findings of this report demonstrate a herculean disconnect between European voters and Eurocrats; the desperation and anticipation to move quickly, aggressively and hedonistically to a federalist model is the constant priority of those who run the show but pull the strings too.
The AECR’s research is vital if Europe’s political elite is sincere about reform and change. The question from here, though, is will they listen to the British Prime Minister David Cameron and his allies, take note of game-changing research from organisations such as the AECR, but above all – and most importantly – the electors and voters of Europe? Time will tell.
The Alliance of European Conservatives & Reformists – the political bloc the Conservative Party sits in the European Parliament – has carried out an extensive study of voters from fifteen European countries.
The voters and non-voters were asked about the degree of awareness of the political parties and candidates at European level directly after the recent elections.
Eurocrats and Brussels functionaries insist the peoples of Europe know and understand the great work it does in tackling climate change, passing a financial transactional tax, slapping extra regulations on small businesses and ensuring gender balance quotas are met in the underwater fish farming industry. The Brussels bubble, however, demonstrates regularly that its view on what the voters think is often grossly out of touch with reality and the study published by the AECR should be a wake-up call to the federalists who are calling for more Europe – not less.
Just 8.2% of respondents were able to name the European People‘s Party‘s (EPP) lead candidate, Jean Claude Juncker, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg. There is a distinct possibility Junker may secure the position after the haggling, back-biting and negotiations have finished.
General awareness of the candidates is also low: only 13.6% of the respondents could name at least one of the candidates. Even when prompted with all the candidates‘ names, around half of respondents (48.3%) could not recognise the candidates nominated by the European political parties (59.4% of non-voters).
Knowledge of the candidates and the process was significantly higher in countries with a national candidate; where there was no national candidate, ignorance remained high. Jean Claude Juncker was known among 78% of the respondents in Luxemburg, but on average by only 22.2% of those from the other 14 countries polled.
The most recognisable candidate was the German socialist Martin Schulz (30.3%) while Jean-Claude Juncker was recognised by 25.9%. Least known was the Green candidate, Ska Keller (5%).
Awareness of political parties at the European level is very low – less than 9% were able to recall one of the European level political parties. 44% of respondents replied instead incorrectly with the name of a national political party. When prompted with the names of all the political parties at the European level, awareness remains relatively low – 43% of respondents did not know any of the parties (30% of voters, 55% of non-voters).
Fewer than 3 out of 10 respondents knew the names of the largest European political parties. The Party of European Socialists (PES) 27.2%; the European Green Party (EGP) 26.1%; the European People‘s Party (EPP) 24.4%.
Particularly low is the level of awareness of the political parties in countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland and the UK, while it is particularly high in Spain.
The findings of this report demonstrate a herculean disconnect between European voters and Eurocrats; the desperation and anticipation to move quickly, aggressively and hedonistically to a federalist model is the constant priority of those who run the show but pull the strings too.
The AECR’s research is vital if Europe’s political elite is sincere about reform and change. The question from here, though, is will they listen to the British Prime Minister David Cameron and his allies, take note of game-changing research from organisations such as the AECR, but above all – and most importantly – the electors and voters of Europe? Time will tell.
The results are based on a sample base of 12.132 respondents (6083 voters, 6049 non-voters).
