Eurobarometer unveils weird and wonderful quirks of member states

TWICE a year the pollsters are sent out to question the people of the EU on a range of issues and twice a year the citizens' opinions are put together to form a Eurobarometer. The 59th was released yesterday.

These studies make strange reading and each country seems to have its own little quirks.

For instance, the Irish always feel totally ignorant of the goings-on of the EU and at the same time come out near the top when quizzed on the topic.

On the other hand, the most euro-sceptic members the British greatly support an EU army but no way do they want to share in making foreign policy.

The citizens of tiny Luxembourg which one Irish minister referred to as a bank rather than a country are the most supportive of the union but are fighting tooth and nail to keep their customers' bank accounts secret despite EU plans to the contrary.

The latest Eurobarometer adds another dimension to this litany of idiosyncrasies. Along with the data from the 15 existing member states, it also takes into account details from the 10 countries due to become full members next May and the two due to join in 2007. And despite being separated by an iron curtain for almost 50 years, the newcomers seem to have very similar attitudes to those of old Europe.

For instance, Estonia and Latvia, the countries closest to Finland, have much the same slightly sceptical attitude as their Scandinavian neighbours. And the Czechs share a similar sceptical attitude with their neighbours the Austrians.

The responses to some questions suggest all Europeans are of like mind. For example, when asked what the most important issues facing their countries are, they seem to answer in a single scared voice unemployment, crime, the economy, healthcare and terrorism. Tax, the environment and housing are bottom of the list.

Then there are the differences. While everyone involved in talks on enlargement ran around worrying that the recently liberated countries seeking EU membership would be scared of losing their identity inside the union, the people of the accession states appear to have no problem seeing themselves as both citizens of their own country and as Europeans.

Meanwhile, there is one interesting area of strong agreement across the EU on the need for Europe to stick together in a crisis.

Following the major rift over the Iraq war, more than 60% of the people in the 27 surveyed states said the EU should have a common position in an international crisis and that it should be independent of US foreign policy.

It will be interesting to see if the politicians follow the people's line on this when the next international crisis arises.