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62% of Britons have not heard of the Common Agricultural Policy

Thursday, April 08, 2010
(If that headline looks familiar, it is because I've used it before). 

Eurobarometer has just published its annual EU agricultural survey, including this question:

"Have you ever heard or read about the CAP, the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy?"  And a mere 38% of my compatriots said yes, down from 43% in 2007.  The EU average is 41%, with a French peak of 66% and a Maltese trough of 19%.

All the ranty points from 2007 hold, so fee free to have a look at the archive.

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posted by Croydonian

Survey o' the day - Europeans and their teeth

Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Sordid commerce nothwithstanding, some things just cannot go unblogged.  So, courtesy of eurobarometer, the question - 'How often in the last 12 months have you felt embarassed about the state of your teeth or dentures?'


And it turns out that some 15% of Euromen & women have been embarassed by their gnashers in the last year, with the greatest levels of dental confidence seen in Germany, Malta and the Netherlands - just 7% admitting to any embarassment last year.  Whether this is a reflection of the quality of dentistry in those parts or that said Germans, Maltese and Dutch types lack self-doubt.  At the other end of the scale, no movie star smiles from some 34 % of Romanians, 26% of Macedonians, 25% of Lithuanians, 23% of Bulgarians, 23% of Portuguese or 22% of Italians.  The negative score for these parts is 13%, so depending on how one looks at it, either many of us have paid no heed to the jibes our American friends make about our dentition, or else we have gone out and done something about it.     

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posted by Croydonian

So long, Ariane

Tuesday, November 03, 2009
(Blogging is likely to be light today, so there may well be no Hansard trawls, either ancient or modern, today)

Those helpful people at Eurobarometer have polled eurocitizenry on 'Space activities of the European Union', and the findings are quite telling.

Asked about the 'Importance of space activities for the future international position of the EU', over a third judge them not important, have no idea or fess up to not knowing.  However, the really amusing bit is that the French, they who so love bragging about Ariane, are the most cynical overall, with a majority falling into the nay saying / not knowing category.  Cypriots enthuse wildly, however, with 82% opting for very / important.  Maybe they have episodes of Space 1999 aired nightly in Nicosia.

Asked whether 'Space activities contribute to industrial competiveness, growth and creation of jobs in the
European Union', the French are among the least impressed - 42% don't think so or don't know.  Having passd through Toulouse recently, a city awash with EADS etc propaganda and so forth, that makes a smirk hard to resist.  The Dutch and the Cypriots - not known for their Baikonurs / Kourous / Cape Canaverals are the most convinced. 

Elsewhere, a rather impressive 17% of my fellow Britons claim to have heard of European Earth Observation satellites.  The French near top the poll for being unimpressed with the Galileo satellite project.  I have crossed swords with the EU over its outrageous push polling over Galileo before, I can claim some familiarity.

The Bulgars would appear to have taken Star Trek to heart, in that 93% think space exploration important, with France and Italy both mustering 72% in agreement.  We're in the lower quartlile at 77%.  And it is another yaa boo to the European Space programme in France, with the lowest  level of agreement with 'Space exploration is important as a source of innovation and economic development'.  Nigh on a third of Gauls - by far the highest percentage - want the EU space budget cut, by the way. 

Looked at demographically, chaps prove the space cadets, with a fifth wanting a cut compared to a quarter of women.  Enthusiasm for spending decreases with age too.

And here's a rather attractive photo of an Ariane 5:



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posted by Croydonian

Gross national income - could you define that standing on your head?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Quite possibly not.

Anyway, here's a definition from the UN:

"Gross national income (GNI) is GDP less net taxes on production and imports, less compensation of employees and property income payable to the rest of the world plus the corresponding items receivable from the rest of the world (in other words, GDP less primary incomes payable to non-resident units plus primary incomes receivable from non-resident units). An alternative approach to measuring GNI at market prices is as the aggregate value of the balances of gross primary incomes for all sectors".

I offer up that definition and raise the question of awareness, as Eurobarometer has been polling we British types as to our opinions of the EU, and one of the questions was this:

"How much percent of the UK's gross national income do you think goes towards the EU budget?" (Horrible use of language there, not that that concerns us right now).

Some 48% of those polled were honest enough to admit that they did not know, while the remaining 52% had a stab at answering a question. What we should have been stumbling towards is the following - 'In 2007, the UK’s contribution to the EU budget was slightly over 0.5% of the UK’s Gross National Income (GNI)'.

What Eurobaromer got was this: "Only 6% of respondents estimated the UK’s contribution at below 3%, and only 25 of the 1,000 interviewees put this figure in the 0-1% range. The anticipated average proportion of the UK’s national income transferred to the EU was a stunning 23%; this shows that the average citizen does not seem to understand such figures".

Well just fancy that.

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posted by Croydonian

The EU's most and least uxorious / maritorious nations

Monday, July 27, 2009
And the ones most and least concerned about their progeny.

It is Eurobarometer time, and Euroman and woman has been asked whether he/she is concerned about losing his/her own job, and concern levels about both 'spousal' and offspring job loss.

And the data has facilitated what I think is a rather telling chart:


In every one of the EU 27, plus three accession candidates, concern for both one's other half and one's children outweighs concern for oneself except for one country:

Step up to the podium, please, Luxembourg. While 23% of Luxembourgeois/e are lying awake at night worrying about their own prospects, only 22% of them are worried either about the person lying next to them or son and heir in the next room, next town or wherever. Before I am accused of kicking off bash a Luxemburger week, the figure is indeed well within statistical margin of error, but no other country sees figures so closely matched.

Of the 27, Latvians, Slovenes and the French are the most anxious for their children, with 26, 25 and 22 percentage point levels of greater concern than for themselves. We manage a nineteen point gap.

The Italians would appear not to be as uxorious / maritorious (I had to dig that up..) as perhaps they should, as 40% are worrying for themselves, but only 38% for their significant others. Latvians, Cypriots and Maltese put their 'spouses' first, with point gaps of 14 for the former two, and 16 for the latter. There is a ten point gap in these parts.

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posted by Croydonian

A little something to make my fellow Britons feel slighty smug

Monday, June 29, 2009
A newly published Eurobarometer report on European election voting and so on focuses on the gender split in attitudes to voting and so forth, and we British types come top of the class for voting based on what Tony Benn calls 'issues'.

Some 66% of men make their decision based on campaign issues, while women fare marginally better at 67%. In contrast, 13% of Cypriot males and 12% of Cypriot females vote in this semi-informed manner.

The personality of the candidate makes little headway in these parts, with 6% of men and 7% of women voting according to who has the shiniest teeth, comes over well in magazine features etc etc. Supposedly. 52% of Lithuanian women are won over by a nice personality, as are 45% of Cypriot men. Pretty shallow of them, frankly.

The other substantial reason for voting choice is habit, with 44% of Danish men always voting the same way, as do 42% of Greek and Estonian women. Latvian and Irish elections should be the biggest nail biters, as 15% or fewer of the electorate are voting automatons.

Elsewhere, Finnish campaigners need to be hustling up until the polls close, as 61%(m) and 62%(f) choose how to vote in the last two weeks / at the last moment. A curious bunch, the Finns, as some 17% have candidate gender as an issue when they vote. To paraphrase a comment made here by Verity a long time ago, 'I don't care whether a candidate is black, white or Asian, male or female (etc) as long as they agree with me'.

More later, maybe.

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posted by Croydonian

Those lucky Cypriots

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The stand out finding from a rather dull Eurobarometer survey on 'Confidence in the Information Society' is this - some 33% of Cypriot internet users are not aware of spam. Mind you, some 3% of Britons are unaware of spam. Blimey.

Elsewhere, the Maltese rate as the schmucks of the EU, with some 8% apparently having been phished. Presumably a significant proportion of Maltese bank deposits are now in Nigeria.

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posted by Croydonian

More than one in five Britons is an idiot

Saturday, May 23, 2009
And I have the proof.

Asked in a Eurobarometer poll whether 'The situation which prevailed in Central and Eastern European countries before 1989 was better than today’s one', some 21% of my compatriots agreed. Mind you, of the pre '89 democracies, it is Cyprus that worries me - some 30% agree with that statement . Not being terribly au fait with the politics of Cyprus, I have found that a Communist Party - the Progressive Party of Working People - fared best in the last Cypriot election. In Central / Eastern Europe, Hungary sees a simple majority agreeing that things were better then. Pretty alarming, frankly.

Meanwhile, all credit to the Swedes and the Finns, with 82% and 84% respectively disagreeing.

More later, maybe.

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posted by Croydonian

So, do the Finns have fine governments, or are they just gullible?

Monday, March 02, 2009
Yet another Eurobarometer poll, on trust in institutions and the like, with far and away the most interesting findings buried in the appendices.

Firstly, dear old Blighty - we distrust our councils least. Asked 'do you trust your council, government, the EU, the figures for trust ran 47%, 29%, 25%. Note that the questions refer to the institutions rather than the particular political complexion of the moment. As to distrust, 48% for councils, 67 for the Government and 57% for the EU. While one in twenty grunted out a 'don't know' for the first two, a rather unnerving 18% could not make their minds up about the EU. Hmm.

Anyway, Finland would appear to be blessed with good governance or a thoroughly pliant citizenry in that 68% trust government, as do 66% of the Dutch and 65% of Cypriots. The EU 27 averages 34% trust. Ours is the second lowest of those countries with 50 years or more of democracy, ahead of Italy at 26%. Bottom of the heap for trust are Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary and Bulgaria at 16% (first three) and 15%. Greeks, take a bow - all of you had an opinion, with no 'don't knows'. Conversely, 13% of the Maltese found the question too difficult.

And here's a chart that would benefit from a double click:



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posted by Croydonian

Bizarre survey finding o' the day

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Eurobarometer is back. Hurrah!

Only it would think it a good idea to ask this question:

"[What] would most strengthen your feeling about being a European citizen?"

And a list of rather odd possibilities is given, and the leading answer (39%) is 'A European social welfare system harmonised between the Member States (health, pensions, etc.)'. Couldn't possibly be a bit of push polling going on, could there? Heaven forfend...

Other popular options are "A community action service to fight European and international natural disasters" (24%) (I've mocked euro Thunderbirds before) and "A President of the EU directly elected by Member State citizens" (20%).

A rum business all together.

In an amusing development, it looks as though persons unknown have been touring Europe stirring up apathy, as interest in the Euro Elections has fallen two points from the last survey. EB will continue to use disinterest as the antonym of interest, a usage that never fails to enrage.

Rather disgustingly, only a pitiful 34% of EU voters declare that they will definitely vote in June. The United Kingdom's electorate disgraces itself with a derisory 18% certain to vote. Mind you, the Portuguese have obviously forgotten Salazar, as only 8% of them will definitely vote. Belgium leads with a still contemptible 55%, although voting is (or certainly was in 2008) compulsory. EU-wide turn out in 2004 was 46%, apparently. We managed 38.2%.

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posted by Croydonian

Curious poll finding o' the day

Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Another quarter, another eurobarometer survey. I might blog it more fully later, but there is one finding that deserves higher billing:

"Which of the following would you like European Union budget to be spent?"

(Long list of possibilities including health, transport and so on, with pollees allowed to nominate four options)

And lo, and indeed behold, three per cent of those polled nominated "Administrative and personnel costs, buildings".

I am NOT making this up, it is right there on page 74. When the country fiches are published I will name the guilty countries where admin is a popular option. And it is Lombard Street to a rotten orange that the Belgians are among the worst offenders.

Meanwhile, some 26% nominated admin as being the leading element in the EU's budget. A snoop around the EU's site sees it claiming that admin amounts to 6% of its budget, while 45% goes on what it calls 'sustainable growth'.

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posted by Croydonian

Before and After Science

Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Yet another eurobarometer survey with some utterly bizarre findings, this time focusing on 'young people' (15-25) and their attitudes to science etc.

The background as to what the youth of the various nations are interested in throws up some surprises. Britons along with Swedes are the least interested in sport - 51%, with Portos and Litvaks top at 81 and 80% respectively. 96% of Portos and Bulgars are just itching for domestic editions of Hello and Heat judging from their interest in 'culture' and 'entertainment'. Let's face it, they are not scanning their papers for reviews from La Scala, are they? Our youth are in the bottom half for interest in both economics (39%) and politics (42%), these being topped by Spaniards (56%) and Austrians (63%) respectively. Britons score poorly on interest in sundry scientific matters, although given the powerhouse that is Nokia, note that Finns are the least interested in ICT.

Anyway, on to those findings that make me want to find a corner, hold my head in my hands and rock gently:

27% of Luxembourgers disagree that 'Science brings more benefits than harm'. Doubtless they make little use of fridges and electric lights.

31% of Slovenes do not think that 'Science and technology make our lives healthier, easier and more comfortable'. They are probably shivering in the dark with the Luxembourgers.

65% of Gauls do not think that 'Science and technology will help eliminate poverty and hunger around the world'. Damn the internal combustion engine, and come to that the plough.

71% of Hellenes think that 'science is influenced too much by profit'. Show me the pharma company that develops drugs, at a loss, for fun....

Meanwhile, there does not seem to be much understanding of the logic of scientific discovery from the questioners - 'Scientific research should above all serve the development of knowledge'. Erm, it of necessity does. Scientists do not test theories and then curse the Gods because an experiment has 'failed'.

Anyway, back to my corner for some more rocking as 83% of Cypriots think 'Because of their knowledge, scientists have power that can make them dangerous'. Are there lots of Bond-type villains holed up in Nicosia? (Anyway, didn't they know that it was Scientist himself who managed to 'rid the world of the evil curse of the vampires'?)

To be continued.... Probably.

And indeed it is to be continued

Who's afraid of grey goo?

The Czechs - 38%, Britons - 33% etc. Danes and Litvaks are the most likely to think nanotech is a good thing. 41% of Maltese don't know.

Nuclear power?

The Czechs are the least worried, with 43% thinking 'at present there are more advantages than risks for society in scientific and technical innovations in the field of nuclear energy'. Only 12% of Greeks agree. Let's not tell them when fusion power is cracked, eh?

Given that our Czech friends have elected some fine people in their time, it is not altogether surprising that they are the least prone to GM food hysteria. The Hellenes (72%) and Romanians (72%) presumably wave crucifixes at cultivated roses.

(Pause while making a living gets in the way)

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posted by Croydonian

A nation of cynics

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Extracted from the Eurobarometer national findings are data on who or what we Britons trust or otherwise. Salient divergences are greater than EU average trust in the army and far less trust in the EU and the press. Quite why anyone, let alone half the population, trusts the UN (unless it is to waste money and be an utter shambles) is a mystery. I suppose the 28% who trust the Internet must be itching to give all their money to the next 419 fraudster to try it on. Equally odd is the - admittedly small - discrepancy between trust in radio and TV - do people think that BBC radio and TV, and commercial TV and commercial radio have wholly separate news gathering operations?

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posted by Croydonian

Freedom's just another word....

Eurobarometer has released another one in its series of curious surveys, this time on 'European' values, whatever they are.

That the results are likely to be somewhat flawed can be seen from this question: "Which three of the following values, best represent the European Union?"

It does not offer bureaucracy, jobbery, fraud, waste etc, but rather more high-falutin' things like human rights, peace and democracy, all securing 36% + of responses.

As ever, the detail at national level is the most interesting, with Danes reckoning 'love' the most important thing for happiness, whereas those soulless Bulgars think it 'work' and 'money'. We opt for 'health'. Of the generally lower ranking issues, the Dutch are keenest on 'pleasure', Italians on 'tradition' and Austrians and Lithuanians on 'order'. Round of applause for the Swedes and Danes for ranking 'freedom' at 40%+, catcalls and a shower of tomatoes for the Maltese at 9%.

On the economic front, our Central and Eastern European friends seem to get it - asked '[is] free competition the best guarantee of economic prosperity', the Estonians are top of the class at 76%, with the other countries topping 70% all bordering the Baltic. Except Slovenia. Greece deserves five year plans and a siege economy, with only 45% pro. We manage a sub-average 58%.

Showing our traditional confusion, we also think 'the state intervenes too much in our lives (73%), admittedly behind Hungary (75%). The Finns think otherwise - 67% of them want Big Nanny telling them what to eat, what to do and what to think.

In a deeply depressing finding, 65% of those polled agree that 'we need more equality and justice (sic) even if this means less freedom for the individual'. 78% of Italians and Portuguese agree, as do a disgraceful 58% of our lot. Only in the Netherlands do a majority disagree - 52%/45%. Shame on the 13% of Irish folk who just don't know.

The Turks and Macedonians know rather better than the EU originators about being at the sharp end economically, with strong majorities thinking economic growth should be the priory even if it affects the environment. Only 17% of Finns agree. Flipping the question round, 90% + of Swedes and Danes would prioritise protecting the environment, even if it affects economic growth. Ho hum.

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posted by Croydonian

Hello Dolly...

Thursday, October 09, 2008
Remember Dolly the sheep?

Anyway, here she is in all her ovine glory:
She is, so to speak, a current issue as my mates at eurobarometer decided that the Eurocrats and the like neeed to know how Euroman and woman feel about eating etc meat from cloned animals. As long as it is tasty, it is fine by me.

Anyway, the findings:

81% of those polled claim to know what animal cloning is. The remainder know the term but do not know what it means or have never heard of the concept. We Britons fared better than most, with 86% knowing it means 'making an identical copy of an existing animal'. Dunce's cap for Latvia at 60%. Mind you, asked whether cloning 'involves genetic modification', less than a third of British respondents knew that it did not. Danes and Latvians topped and tailed the results.

Asked whether cloning animals was morally wrong, we were alone in thinking otherwise - 46% yes, 48% no. The Austrians and Slovenes were the most concerned at 79% and 76%. Must be something to do with the air in the Julian Alps, maybe.

As to whether 'Animal cloning will cause animals unnecessary pain, suffering and distress', our Latvian and Maltese chums were the most convinced (60%), with only us, the French, Danes and Dutch scoring 50% for the reverse proposition. Wonder if the sentimentalists feel the same way about shearing and dunking in the sheep dip, let alone ritual slaughter?

Cloning rare species wins the greatest favour with 67% favouring it to a greater or lesser degree, while doing so 'to improve the robustness of animals against diseases' gets 57% approval. Who are the real animal lovers, eh? The UK figures are 74% and 68%. The Austrians lead for squeamishness at 57% and 41%.

Given that most of us eat meat, I do wonder how many actually know how the process works, given the responses to this statement: "Using cloning for food production isn't acceptable, as it would treat animals as commodities rather then as creatures with feelings". Erm....

84% of Austrians will be shunning their Wiener Schnitzel on that basis, while we find it the least problematic at 62%. Spaniards and Czechs share - take your pick - first or last place with us.

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posted by Croydonian

The art of understatement

Monday, October 06, 2008
From a eurobarometer poll on awareness of the Euro election next year:

"The level of “DK” replies, however, remains stable at 75%, which demonstrates that overall
European citizens are not particularly aware of this event".

We, naturally, are bottom of the class, with a derisory three per cent aware that they are next year. Luxembourg (fancy) is the class swot, with 43% saying 2009.

Mind you, the penners of this europrose really ought to write out 100o times, 'disinterested is NOT a synonym for uninterested', as it asks whether pollees are very / somewhat interested, very / somewhat disinterested or are one of the dreaded mouth-breathing 'don't knows'. Romania is teacher's pet with 65% interested, while we are underperformed by the Slovaks, Czechs and Latvians. At the risk of being priggish, one might hope that after all those decades under Nazi / Soviet rule they would value the franchise a little more. And rather disgustingly the authors refer to the election day as 'D Day'. Yes they do, on page 22.

As to how they will make their minds up, it is the Danes who are the apple polishers - 57% have as the deciding factor 'the position of the candidates' parties on European issues'. We have 28% giving that answer. The Slovaks and Cypriots lead the EU for shallowness, with 69% and 63% basing decisions on 'the personality of the candidates'. Excluding the wretched don't knows, lead decider for us is 'the positions of the candidates on national issues.' Notoriety of candidates is important for the Irish Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary, at 13%+. Quite the head scratcher that, but clearly reality TV 'stars', recently released career criminals, pr0n stars and the like can expect to impress in Munster South, Riga Mortis etc etc.


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posted by Croydonian

The British - Europe's leading sceptics

Thursday, September 11, 2008
At least when it comes to global warming / climate change / whatever they are calling it this week.

A Eurobarometer poll has some 14% of Britons viewing the above as not serious, whereas 96% of Cypriots and 95% of Greeks think it a 'very' serious problem. Presumably their broadcasters screen an even higher number of alarmist documentaries.

More later, maybe.

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posted by Croydonian

Weltschmerz und angst

Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Two of the better known words we have borrowed from our friends on the other side of the Rhine, and the latest Eurobarometer suggests that it is not entirely coincidental that it was the Teutons who came up with those words:

Q1 - Overall, in 20 years' time, would you say that people's lives in Germany will be better than today, or worse than today?

Worse - 68%. Unchanged - 10%. Better - 20%.

Majorities think things will be worse in Greece (67%), France (64%), Luxembourg (59%), Belgium and Italy (58%), Austria and the UK (56%), Cyprus (55%) and Portugal (53%).

In contrast, the Pollyannas of the EU hail from Tallinn, with 78% of Estonians thinking the future bright. The Republic of Ireland (67%) and Sweden (51%) were the only 'old' Europe countries with a majority optimistic. The Maltese disgraced themselves with a shocking 12% unable to express an opinion.

While these findings are faintly comic - precious few (any?) periods of 20 years in the last few centuries have not seen advances in health and living standards - the direction euroman and woman want politicians to take is far from funny:

'There should be stricter rules to ensure that everrybody's lifestyle is more respectful of the environment' (Compulsory saluting when passing a tree, maybe?) - 88% in agreement

'There should be policies ensuring that the gap between the rich and the poor is reduced significantly in our country' - 87%. Isn't the procrustean solution pretty?

'The EU should find ways of economic and social developement which depend less on the rest of the world' - 78%. A Socialist siege economy, with a side order of autarky? No thanks....

Perhaps the Germans have seen the future, and in the words of Leonard Cohen, 'it is murder'.


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posted by Croydonian

62% of Britons are morons. FACT

Friday, March 14, 2008
Asked 'Have you ever heard or read about the EU's Common Agriculture and rural development policy, the 'CAP', or not?', only 38% said yes.

The moron count is up three percentage points on the year, by the way. Our Gallic chums have progressed from 64 to 65% awareness, while Maltese awareness is down from 17 to 14%.

More from the Eurobarometer agriculture survey later.

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posted by Croydonian

Something the Government will *not* be bragging about

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Miracle of miracles, Eurobarometer has a survey in data protection not far from hitting the presses. Thus far, only the preliminary pan-European results have been released.

See if it is possible to restrain a hollow laugh at this:

"Interestingly, more than 50% of respondents said they trusted medical services and doctors, insurance companies, banks and financial institutions, employers, police, social security, tax authorities and local authorities when handling data. On the other hand, less than 50% of respondents said they trusted market and opinion research companies, non-profit organisations, mail order companies, credit reference agencies, credit card agencies and travel companies".

More detail when it is published.

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posted by Croydonian