The European Parliament (EP) is failing to project an image, good or bad, of itself in the minds of over half of Europe’s citizens. The result is a lack of engagement and fall in the number of people participating in European elections. However, campaigning raises the visibility of the Parliament, and the more information people have the more positively they feel towards the institution. These are just some of the findings from a study conducted by the EU-funded CIVICACTIVE project.

The study looked at the factors that affect citizens participating in European Parliament elections and in referendums concerning integration issues, national elections, and non-electoral political and community action. The influence of political parties and the media was also investigated, particularly in relation to the European Parliament elections of 2004. Despite the increase in powers of the European Parliament over the years, people are becoming more reluctant to vote when the opportunity arises. Since the first European Parliament elections in 1979, turn-out has fallen by almost 20 points, from 66% to 48% in 2004.

What is the CIVICACTIVE project?

The civicactive project will evaluate the state of the art of the study of referendums on European integration and will analyse all available survey and aggregate data sets dealing with EU referendum voting. It will collect and analyse aggregate data on participation and vote choice in European Parliament and other elections and related census-based data for all member states.

The study reveals that abstention takes two forms:

• The first reason that people failed to vote was because it was difficult for them to do so.
• Secondly, people may not take part in elections is due to a failure to mobilise voters, which is more difficult for policymakers to address.

For instance, Researchers found little difference in the abstention rates between men and women. However, men are more likely to be voluntary abstainers, whereas women are more likely to abstain because of the circumstances they find themselves in. This might be looking after children, sick relatives or for other similar reasons.

Indeed, it is estimated that over 60% of European citizens have no image, good or bad, of the European Parliament. The project based this finding on all available survey and aggregate data sets dealing with EU referendums and elections, aggregated data on participation and choice in European elections, and other related census-based data for all Member States.

The results of the study, as well as results from the latest EUROBAROMETER surveys concerning perceptions and knowledge of the power and role of the European Parliament, were brought to the attention of policymakers at a recent conference entitled ‘People and Parliament in the European Union in the Context of 2009 Elections’.