eurealist.co.uk

Eurobarometer the EU opinion survey will now be run by a British firm.

The survey, established by the European Commission 30 years ago to inform its policy-making, will be conducted by the market research group Taylor Nelson Sofres for the next four years under a 50m (£33.8m) contract.

The survey, established by the European Commission 30 years ago to inform its policy-making, will be conducted by the market research group Taylor Nelson Sofres for the next four years under a 50m (£33.8m) contract.

Marita Carballo, TNS head of polling, said: “The objective of the survey is to measure all European opinions about social matters, and opinions about things like the euro, EU enlargement and the constitution. I think the idea is to know what people think - this is a very important instrument for democracy.”

A. very important instrument for democracy!

A survey might well be important for democracy, if the results of the survey were considered when the Commission makes decisions, but of course the results are ignored when they do not confirm what the commission wants. According to Edmund Conway in the Telegraph if the Commission is not getting the results it requires it pulls the survey.

Looking at the results of the survey suggests that the most “democratic” decision of all would be for the European Union to disband itself entirely.

Since the 1970s, more than half the population of the EU’s member states have told Eurobarometer that they would feel either indifferent or very relieved if the EU was scrapped tomorrow. Of the Britons asked last year, only 16pc said they would feel sorry if the EU ceased to exist.

The survey showed last December that less than half the EU population now supports the EU project. Earlier this year it showed that, for the first time in 20 years, there are as many people strongly against the UK’s membership as there are in favour of it.

In fact, those Eurobarometer series which provide the most EU-unfriendly conclusions suffer a suspiciously short life. For example, one that tracked the number of people who would describe themselves as European, as well as their own nationality, lasted just two years - 1990 to 1992. It was pulled after it transpired that more than half those asked said they would never contemplate such an idea. In the UK, 71pc said they never considered themselves European.

Eurobarometer’s survey on the single European currency also had an unhappy two-year life, after the number in favour of the euro was swiftly overtaken by those against it.

Of course the EU and democracy are a contradiction in terms, but by supposedly consulting the people the Commission takes on the cloak of democracy. So the Eurobarometer surveys are a tool in the hands of the Commission to be used to persuade the people their wishes are being considered by the Commission when it acts, which is nonsense.
More on this at E U Referendum.