The Guardian, 22 June 2007
Letter to the Editor
It may be the case that the British public has little interest in the European summit and little understanding of the constitutional treaty and associated issues. While institutional reform is undoubtedly important for the effectiveness of the EU, it is bound to be a turn-off for the public at large. In a Mori poll in May 2005, only 1% of the British public thought they knew a great deal about the treaty.
But the widespread lack of knowledge about the EU's working should not be mistaken for a lack of interest in its policies. The EU has been stressing the need to deliver on policy since the impasse on the constitutional treaty in 2005, what the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, calls a "Europe of results".
And once a treaty is agreed, it should return with urgency to this pivotal agenda. Increasingly, the British public recognizes the need for international cooperation on issues like the environment, energy policy and counter-terrorism, and see the EU as a necessary forum. If the EU did not exist, we would have to invent it. People may not love the EU, but they acknowledge its necessity.
Zaki Cooper (Director, Business for New Europe)