Flash Eurobarometer 189a (EU communication and the citizens - General Public Survey)

Attitudes towards the EU communication policy.<br>Topics: assessment of the own country’s membership in the EU as a good thing; importance to be informed about European politics for: personal reasons, professional reasons, both; most important reasons for need of information; interest in opinions of citizens in other EU member states on the following EU issues: euro, job creation, European Constitution, accession of Turkey, danger of avian flu, securing energy supply, how to compete with China or India, fight against terrorism and organised crime, immigration from non-EU countries, protecting the environment, ethical issues, tolerance of religious expression and protection of human rights; appropriateness of information provided by the national government on European issues; political participation at local or regional, national, or EU level in the last three years: voting in an election or a referendum, voting in the last European Parliament election in 2004, contacting a politician, working in a political party or action group, working in another organisation, signing a petition, expressing own views in an online discussion, taking part in a public demonstration; first point where to express personal opinion on specific issue: person or organisation on EU level, person or organisation within own country; attitude towards the following statements on information about European Union issues: citizens should have the right on fair and full information, information should be widely available in all languages and easily to understand, presentation of different opinions, citizens and representative organisations should have the right and means to express their views, policy / decision making and administration should be transparent and as visible as possible; primarily responsible body for informing citizens about the EU and the effect on citizens’ life: national government, national parliament and political parties, European Parliament, European Commission, NGOs, media; primarily responsible body for taking into account citizens’ wishes on European issues: national government, national parliament and political parties, European Parliament, European Commission, NGOs; most important reasons for not contacting the EU in EU-related matters; most important source of information on the EU; assessment of the appropriateness of media coverage with European Union issues in the own country; assessment of the information on The EU as: easy to understand, interesting, useful; reception of TV channels from other EU countries; frequency of watching TV channels from other EU countries; interest in a dedicated public European Union TV channel; preferred kind of programme; preferred statement about politicians in the national parliament: should regularly discuss issues related to the future of the EU, should focus on national affairs; attitude towards the following statements on the EU: is democratic, has significant impact on respondent’s everyday life, can play an active role in world politics, issues are interesting for respondent, issues are too complex for respondent, is better placed to protect values and standard of living than individual member states; assessment of EU institutions as more open, accessible, and responsive than institutions of the own country.

Demography: sex; age; age at end of education; occupation; professional position; voting behaviour in last national election; type of community; number of fixed phone lines in the household; number of fixed phone lines in the household listed in telephone directory; number of fixed phone lines in the household used exclusively for business purposes or for electronic equipment; number of fixed phone lines in the household listed in telephone directory and used exclusively for business purposes or for electronic equipment.

Additionally coded was: respondent ID; interviewer ID; language of the interview; country; date of interview; time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview; region; weighting factor.