An opinion poll on interest in the 4-7 June European elections and on EU policy issues reports that 34% of possible voters surveyed across the EU say they are already certain that they will go and vote in June, while 19% of respondents said they were already certain that they would not vote.
According to the Eurobarometer poll, which was conducted from mid-January to mid-February, the share of respondents who are most likely to vote is highest in Belgium (70%), Luxembourg (62%), Denmark and Malta (56%). Greece and Cyprus are in the sixth position with 48% of the people saying that they are most likely to vote.
On the other hand, the share of respondents who say they will definitely not vote is the largest in the UK (30%), Poland (19%), Latvia, Spain and Hungary (18%). In Greece and Cyprus, this percentage is 10% and 14% respectively.
As regards the interest of the people for the European elections, the highest percentage is recorded in Greece (62%), Ireland (61%) and Malta (59%). In Cyprus 52% of the voters are interested in the elections.
According to the poll, 64% of the respondents have said that the main reason that they will not vote in the elections, is that they do not know enough about the role of the European Parliament. Sixty-two per cent have said that their vote will not change anything and 20% have said that they are against Europe, the European Union, the European construction.
Regarding the criteria for choosing a candidate, 65% of the Cypriots, the highest percentage in the EU, have said that their vote is based on the position of candidates on national issues.
The opinion that the role of the EP has been strengthened in the last 10 years is most widespread in the Netherlands (64%), Cyprus (62%) and Czech Republic (61%). The biggest shares of respondents who believe that its role has been weakened are in Austria and Greece (19%) and Belgium (18%) but such opinion remains a minority in those countries too.
The biggest shares of respondents who believe the role of the EP should be more important are in Greece and Cyprus (75%) and Malta (61%).
Finally, as regards the European Parliament priority policies and values, 63% of Cypriots and 64% of Greeks believe that improving consumer and public health protection is most important criterion, and 48% of the Cypriots, the highest percentage in the EU, believes that the most important criterion is the security and defence policy that enables the EU to face up to international crisis.
