Two Thirds Of EU Citizens Favour A Constitution

In the latest edition of the Eurobarometer, people across Europe were asked whether they favoured the idea of a European Constitution. A full two thirds of those asked, supported the idea of a constitution. Eurobarometer warns however that:

It translates solely the extent to which people support the concept of a Constitution for the European Union and not an assessment of the content of the text proposed for ratification in the Member States, and even less an indication of voting intentions in a possible referendum.

Even in the UK, the second most negative nation on the issue, a full 49% of respondents said they agreed in principle with the idea of a constitution. Only 29% were against. The question asked was: What is your opinion on each of the following statements? Please tell me for each statement, whether you are for it or against it. A Constitution for the European Union? Assuming that the poll has been conducted reasonably, it shows that we are very far from winning the argument, despite the negative image of the EU in the UK. The fact that people still believe that the EU should have a constitution shows that the two sides of the argument can claim some degree of success: People believe in the ideal, but want a different sort of EU. The result suggests two things for Eurosceptics:

1. The constitution referendum campaign must keep the details of the text at the forefront.
2. We have a long way to go to convince the public that the very idea of European Union is a bad one.

Somewhat ironically, the number one concern of many respondents is unemployment.

Unemployment continues to be the major concern of citizens. This recurring problem was evoked by 46% of interviewees and continues to grow constantly (+5 points since the beginning of 2003) Moreover, unemployment seems to be of particular concern in the new Member States, where a very high rate of citations was observed (62%).

So the one organisation that through its rules and regulations promotes unemployment, is supported by those whose greatest worry is unemployment. It would be laughable, if it were not so tragic.