EU-DIGEST

What does the Internet think about you, your country or whatever

Have you ever wanted to know what the internet thinks about you, or how it rates your country, your favorite food, your religious denomination, your political preference, your favorite sport, or even your favorite politician? Well, now you can know it with whatdoesinternetthink.net. Check it out. You probably will be amazed as to some of the results the site comes up with.

Labels: Internet, Polls: Perceptions, Ratings

IMF tells Europe to come clean on bank losses - by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

"To restore confidence, you need total disclosure of possible losses," said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the IMF's managing director. "Not only losses which are linked to the original sub-prime crisis, but also the losses linked to the slowdown in the economy, and impaired assets. There are lots of things that still have to be disclosed," he said, adding that credit mechanism remained jammed. The latest IMF report said the chance to raise fresh bank equity while optimism lasts should be "seized without delay" and demanded a "comprehensive review to assess capital needs and viability."

Note EU-Digest: As one reads this article it is interesting to see how the Telegraph (a mouthpiece of the UK's Conservative party) in their comments on the IMF statement bad-mouthes the EU, the Germany and the euro, creating a perception that nothing is working in the EU. One has to recognize this is not objective reporting, just EU bashing.

Labels: Britain, EU Economy, Polls: Perceptions, Press

Who knows, the EU might also one day find "their own Obama" ?

A team of prominent EU scholars from the European University Institute(Florence), Kieskompas, a Dutch company that has made similar tools in the past, and the Zurich-based NCCR Democracy/Politools network, last week unveiled the 'EU Profiler', an innovative 'voting advice' website that allows EU citizens across Europe to figure out their their political identity based on a variety of simple questions ahead of the upcoming European Parliament elections in June. Most of the 300 million European voters have no idea for which party they should vote based on their preferences and consequently had not been very interested to vote in the past. But an antidote was developed for this apathy: a "Voting Profiler" to guide the voter through the maze of European ideas, preferences and political parties.

It probably all started with the recent elections in the US, when Europeans proved quite willing to take a position about issues which were not exactly relevant to them or Europe, such as the pros and cons of electing a black president. As a result it turned out that a record number of curious Europeans also consulted the many electronic US voter profilers. Seen in this light, European polling and survey experts figured that the elections for the European Parliament - on 4 June - probably in one way or the other also closely resemble the elections in the United States and that a European Voter Profiler would also do well in getting European voters more interested in the EU parliamentary elections.

The EU Profiler has hit the road running and is becoming very popular. The creators regard it as the Holy Grail of profilers "since it enables you to line up the views of all the European parties alongside each other, without any need for background knowledge", says Amsterdam political scientist André Krouwel, one of the minds behind the EU Profiler.

The EU Profiler is certainly worth a shot, but you have got to be open-minded and prepared for surprises. Remember that we're talking about more than 700 seats in the European Parliament, divided among 27 different countries. When we spoke to a voter who did the EU Profiler test in Holland, he told us that the test had showed him that some political parties in other EU member states came closer to his own political viewpoints than his home grown parties. He said that to him that meant that many local political parties in Holland did not take the time to listen to their voters anymore. When we asked him for which party he would vote for this time around, he said that a party in Italy and one in the Czech Republic matched his profile the best, but that he wasn't sure yet.

To go to the EU Voter Profiler and figure out where you fit in on the EU political spectrum click on this link

Labels: EU Elections 09, EU-Profiler, Polls: Perceptions, Surveys

Poll indicates bailout doesn't help average Americans - by David Goldman

The government said last week's $700 billion financial bailout was necessary to help Wall Street and Main Street alike, but most Americans don't think the plan was intended to benefit them, according to a survey released Tuesday. In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, only 40% of Americans think the legislation was an attempt to rescue the economy in order to help ordinary taxpayers. Instead, 53% saw the bill as mostly a bailout for Wall Street."By coming together on this legislation, we have acted boldly to prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," President Bush said last week after the House voted 263 to 171 to pass the measure. But taxpayers weren't buying it. The survey of more than 1,000 Americans, conducted Oct. 3-5, found that 59% thought the bill would treat taxpayers unfairly. Almost as many - 52% - thought the bill would waste money.

Note EU-Digest: both presidential candidates - Obama and McCain supported the bailout, which has voters now worried on which side of the fence they stand.

Labels: Bailout, Polls: Perceptions, US Economy

362 Europeans in one room - by Federico Poggi

From Friday the 12th to Sunday the 14th a Deliberative Poll was organised in the European Parliament in Brussels. A representative sample of 362 people traveled to Brussels and was asked to express its view and concerns on major issues at European level. Results from the poll will be released in Lisbon Oct. 17, a day before the European key summit on the European Reform Treaty convenes.

In most small groups meetings some national clichés about cultural attitudes were often confirmed. Different approaches and concerns according to nationality were also to be witnessed in the questions asked by the small groups. For instance, when called on to discuss the international role to be played by the EU, groups where the French and southern countries in general where represented focused more on the EU as a promoter of peace, social and human rights. Where Nordic countries prevailed, the groups seemed more concerned about economics and the EU's boundaries in view of further enlargements.

Labels: EU, EU Parliament, Polls: Perceptions

The EU's relations with its neighbors

The report commissioned by the European Commission focuses on the attitudes towards the EU by its neighbors and those of the EU towards its neighbors. 67% of the EU Citizens consider the relationship of the EU with its neighbors to be good.

Labels: EU, Eurobarometer, Polls: Perceptions

Public support for EU Constitution hits a high

Some 66% of Europeans - and 69% of Poles - want a Constitution to be adopted, according to a Eurobarometer survey, published hours before a decisive Brussels summit. However, British citizens remain highly critical of the EU.With the threat of a Polish veto still hanging over the Summit opening today (21 June) in Brussels, new polls show that more than two thirds (69%) of the Polish population supports the "concept" of an EU Constitution.

The concept is also backed by 78% of Germans, while Belgians show the most enthusiam, with 82% saying that they support a Constitution. The Eurobarometer poll was conducted by TNS Opinion on behalf of the Commission and based on interviews with more than 29,000 people in 30 European countries. However, the poll found that only 55% of Czechs and a mere 43% of UK citizens are favourable to an EU Constitution.

Labels: Britain, EU CONSTITUTION, Poland, Polls: Perceptions

Soft? So they call me soft, eh? ‘Rocky’ Royal comes out fighting-by Charles Bremner

Alone in a floodlit boxing ring, Ségolène Royal wound up her fans like the champ before the final bout. “They call me soft, eh? You know me — that’s not my thing.” The crowd of 4,000 in the sports arena in Tours roared and chanted: “Ségo, Présidente!”

Mr Sarkozy had dared on Wednesday to call Ms Royal soft on crime after she attacked the former Interior Minister for harsh police tactics in a youth riot in the Paris Gare du Nord station.In the final stretch before the first round of the election on April 22, Ms Royal was in Tours on a jaunt through the Loire Valley doing what she does best: preaching her vision of feminine redemption for a nation in crisis. Pugnacious and confident, Ms Royal, 53, is enjoying a lift since she pushed out the Socialist party barons a fortnight ago and reverted to the very personal style that worked magic last year. “Je suis la patronne” — “I am the boss”, she said this week. “I will be responsible for the outcome. I will hold no one else responsible.”

According to a BVA poll yesterday, Ms Royal has pulled almost level with Mr Sarkozy, with 27 per cent voting intentions for the first round. Mr Sarkozy, leader of the Union for a Popular Movement, is at 28 per cent and François Bayrou, the centrist who is Ms Royal’s most immediate threat has fallen to 20.

Labels: Elections, France, Polls: Perceptions, Segolene Royal

Europe of 2057: A big future is seen in poll - by Meg Bortin

The Europe of 2057 is a larger place, its borders stretched eastward to encompass Turkey and, probably, Russia. It is a greener place, where wind and sun power have supplanted fossil fuels. It has been the battleground for at least one new war. And the dominant language is English.This vision of Europe's future emerges from a new trans-Atlantic poll timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the European Union.

These images contain good news for supporters of Europe's historic endeavor begun on March 25, 1957, with the signing of the Treaty of Rome: Fifty years from now, more than 5,300 European respondents strongly agreed, the European Union will still exist. In overwhelming numbers, European respondents also believe that the euro is here to stay and will be the standard currency for Europe in 2057.

Perhaps the most startling reply concerns the possible inclusion of Russia in the EU, given that the issue is not even on the table today. While three former Soviet republics have joined the 27- member bloc and others , like Ukraine are seeking entry, Russia — after looking to Europe in the 1990s — has pulled back.By even larger numbers, respondents envisage the Europe of 2057 as encompassing Turkey.Finally, in a response likely to ruffle feathers in Paris, Berlin, Madrid, and Rome, respondents overwhelmingly agreed that English would be the language most widely spoken in Europe 50 years from now. That view was shared by the French (71 percent), the Germans (73 percent), the Spanish (76 percent), the Italians (81 percent), and, of course, the British (83 percent).

Labels: Eastern Europe, Future, Polls: Perceptions, Russia, Turkey

Results of the first three EU-Digest mini-polls conducted since December 2006.

1) Should Turkey join the EU ?
82% said they should and 18% said they should not.

2) Are Europeans dominated by marketing oriented US culture?
57.1% said the US is dominating European culture and 42.9% said they are not influencing European Culture

3) Are you in favor of further EU expansion without a Constitution ?
30.2% of the respondents said yes to expansion without a Constitution and 69.8% said Europe needs a constitution before it expands any further.

Participate in our latest EU-Digest poll: Could individual EU nation states survive going it alone in the Global Community?

Polls are interesting because every poll can be designed to give a predictable result by the way the question of the poll is phrased. If the EU Commission really wants to promote greater enthusiasm about the benefits of the EU and a sense of unity at all levels of the EU population, it should engage some of the best professional marketing agencies in the world to come up with strategies and programs that work. Academics in universities or NGO's are not up to do this task. Creative marketers who have succeeded to make us believe through innovative commercials that children can not live without sugar coated cornflakes, will surely also be able to convince us that individual European Nations can not survive in a competitive and hostile global market place without being united under the EU banner. It certainly will be worth the investment.

Labels: EU, Marketing, Polls: Perceptions

Labels: EU, Integration, Political, Polls: Perceptions

Israel, Iran, US lead 'least-liked' countries - by Jim Lobe

A majority of people from around the world hold predominantly negative views of Israel, Iran, and the United States, according to a survey of more than 28,000 respondents in 27 countries. The survey, which was sponsored by the British Broadcasting Corp's World Service and designed by Globescan and the Washington-based Program for International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), found that 56% and 54% of all respondents said they had mainly negative views of Israel and Iran, respectively. Fifty-one percent and 48% said the same about the United States and North Korea, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, 54% said they felt "mainly positive" about both Canada and Japan, while the European Union and France, with 53% and 50% "positive" ratings, were the next highest among the 12 countries or regions rated in the survey.

"It appears that people around the world tend to look negatively on countries whose profile is marked by the use or pursuit of military power," said PIPA director Steven Kull. "This includes Israel and the US, which have recently used military force, and North Korea and Iran, who are perceived as trying to develop nuclear weapons," he said, adding, "Countries that relate to the world primarily through soft power, like Japan, France, and the EU in general, tend to be viewed more positively."

Labels: Polls: Perceptions