Trust poll should act as a wake up call for EU: Callanan

Polling analysis released last night shows that the EU needs to start trusting the voters, otherwise their trust in the EU will continue to plummet, Martin Callanan MEP, Leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, said.

Polling analysis released last night shows that the EU needs to start trusting the voters, otherwise their trust in the EU will continue to plummet, Martin Callanan MEP, Leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, said.

The information was published by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), using Eurobarometer statistics, in six European newspapers. It shows that in all six of the biggest EU countries trust in the EU ‘as an institution’ has fallen. The most dramatic fall was in Spain where 72 percent of people said they do not trust the EU, up from 23 percent in 2007. In the UK the figure rose from 49 percent to 69 percent, in Germany it rose from 36 percent to 59. And in Poland it rose from 18 percent to 42.

Responding to the figures, Mr Callanan said:

“These figures should act as a wake up call to the EU. People have lost trust in the EU because the EU does not trust the people.

“The entire approach needs to change, from one of ‘we know best’, to one of allowing people to take more decisions over their everyday lives.

“People are naturally suspicious of decisions that are made further away from them, and as the EU seeks to increase its powers this level of suspicion will only increase.

“We need an EU that responds to people, trusts them to make the right decisions, and delivers better value for money.

“People can begin to trust the EU as an institution, but it needs to focus on being more effective at doing less, not constantly seeking to do more.”

ENDS

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