More slack-arsed "reporting" on EU

mike65

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6466887.stm

Poll shows strong Euroscepticism

French and Dutch voters rejected the constitution in 2005
In the run-up to the EU's 50th birthday a Financial Times poll has found that 44% of Europeans think life has got worse since their country joined.

The FT/Harris online poll surveyed 6,772 adults in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. US citizens were also asked questions about the EU.

Just 22% of the Europeans questioned thought their country should pull out of the 27-nation bloc, however.

UK respondents were the most negative about the EU draft constitution.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel - currently holding the EU presidency - wants to get agreement on a roadmap for EU institutional changes by June, setting 2009 as the deadline for adoption of a constitution.

When asked what they associated most with the EU, 31% of the FT/Harris poll respondents said the single market, 20% bureaucracy, 9% democracy and 26% other factors.

In the UK, 52% of those questioned said things had got worse since joining the EU, while in Spain 53% said life had improved.

So then 44% of people in countries that have been EU members for anywhere between 21 and 50 years say things have got worse. Or 56% think things have got better. Either reading is wrong.

How many other matters have influenced the feeling of the public in any of the participating nations? Cold war, oil shocks, end of deference, invention of
'yoof', globalisation, junk-media saturation, economic shifts, end of "job for life", wars fought and lost or won, you name it really. But no, its all down to membership of the EU apparently.

Mike.

constitutionus

in fairness the media give feck all coverage to the EU . i accidently flicked onto the tail end of a progarame on it last night and basically just got a vox pop of MEPs prattling on about what they thought about the consitution. i think the next show isnt till the 29th !

it doesnt really help that theres a definate agenda by the gov to pretty much let europe do anything they want while at the sametime not being able to tell anyone what it'll actually all end up being or where its final boarders are.

i remember how sick they were when the mckenna judgment came in and they actually had to be even handed in their promotion of the EU. funny how the first thing to happen was they gutted the bodies they set up to promote it as they were then obliged to tell us the down side.

i'll be honest and say im against the constitution. i think we've ceded enough power to the EU. i dont want us to pull out but i dont want us to go any further either and i dont see the harm considering that denmark hasnt exactly floundered by not joining the euro, something which by the way has left us with the mad house prices we've got here thanks to the loss of control over our own interest rates, and the UKs still doing all right too.

ive pretty much given up on getting decent impartial reporting on europe. mainly because all of europes media is affected by it. something dodgy happens in ireland and RTE doesnt cover it you can bet someone else, like the beeb, will. but with all governments wanting this constitution ratafied theres no real impartial external reportage i can look to appart from what, CNN?. the best example of this is the coverage of the ratification of the constitution with the various politicians stating that the majority of countries have signed up. and that is a fact. of course it neatly sidesteps the reality that all the accession countries had to sign up as part of their terms of joining and every other country bar spain that signed up didnt go to their people.

whilst i dont put a great deal of faith in polls i do think its interesting that less than 10% in the one mike quoted felt the EU was democratic and it doesnt help when when things went pareshaped with france and holland rejecting it the first thing bertie,who made us vote twice on nice, did was prevent the irish people having their say in a referendum on it too. god forbid the people of europe, shock horror, dont feel the same as their political masters and actually choose to exercise their rights.

theres something deeply smelly here and untill the media sort themselves out over europe i'll be relying on the internet. you have to take a huge grain of salt with it but at least theres a chance of getting the truth.:)

Dublin's Finest

I think the Financial Times is the only paper that gives reasonably coverage of the European Union. But then, it doesn't really have the Irish perspective.

That poll does seem slightly definitive though. I mean, 44%?

While the bureaucracy angle is true to a significant extent it is always trumpeted by the media and so it would stick in the public's memory. Come up with a catchy image or phrase and it can do a lot of damage.

Wine lakes, butter mountains, etc.

The positive stuff rarely filters down to the public, e.g. the legislation on roaming charges & the "open skies" agreement between the EU and the US, which should reduce flight transatlantic costs.

Solair

The EU does a very bad job of communicating what it actually does and there's an often ridiculous level of anti-european coverage in the UK media. If they can whip up a snigger at something "euro" they will.

There were surveys which showed that the UK Media, particularly print, were actually far more euro sceptic than either politicans or the general public.

The amount of "EuroMyths" that get trotted out by the UK tabloids as fact is absolutely astounding.