Irish voters most likely to take part in EU elections

Turnout in the euro-elections next month could be much higher than expected, a new European survey showed today – with voting interest greatest in Ireland and Malta.

A TNS Opinion survey commissioned by the European Parliament puts the numbers definitely voting at 43% – compared with just 28% in the EU’s own “Eurobarometer” poll published earlier this year.

Nearly 50% said they would “probably” vote, compared with 34% recorded by Eurobarometer.

In the UK 34% now say they will “definitely” vote.

European Parliament officials cautioned that there is no guarantee that the “definite” voters will deliver at the ballot box on June 4-7, but said the signs are that European citizens “appear to be mobilising” to have their say.

The trend is greatest here, ahead of a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty later this year.

The TNS survey shows 72% of people in Ireland and Malta claiming to be “interested” in the election – compared with only 50% in the UK and a low of 25% in Latvia.

Unemployment and the economy tops of the list of Europeans’ concerns, according to the poll, conducted mostly by phone between May 4-15 among a “representative sample” of EU member state nationals.

With a fortnight to go to the polls – June 5 here and June 7 in most of Europe – 28% of those surveyed still did not know the euro-election dates.

Of those who will not vote, 61% said they believed their vote would not change anything and 18% said they were “against Europe”.

Poll findings:

Percentage of citizens saying they are interested in the EU (EU average 53%) -

Ireland – 72%

Malta – 72%

Romania – 64%

Slovenia – 63%

Cyprus – 61%

Hungary – 59%

Bulgaria – 57%

France – 57%

Portugal – 57%

Austria – 56%

Netherlands- 55%

Denmark – 54%

Spain – 52%

Finland – 51%

Germany – 50%

UK – 50%

Greece – 49%

Poland – 48%

Belgium – 46%

Lithuania – 46%

Slovakia – 42%

Sweden – 42%

Czech Rep – 37%

Latvia – 25%

Percentage who will “definitely” vote (EU average 43%) -

Ireland – 66%

Belgium – 64%

Malta – 60%

Denmark – 52%

Cyprus – 48%

Lithuania- 46%

Spain – 45%

France – 45%

Portugal – 44%

Slovenia – 44%

Latvia – 42%

Germany – 42%

Greece – 41%

Austria – 41%

Hungary – 35%

UK – 34%

Bulgaria – 34%

Poland – 33%

Finland – 33%

Netherlands- 30%

Sweden – 30%

Romania – 30%

Czech Rep – 24%

Slovakia – 16%