IRISH citizens, it appears, would agree wholeheartedly with the maxim of the late President Mitterrand of France, who is supposed to have insisted that the answer to most of the continent's problems was "more Europe, more Europe!".
Eighty-three per cent of Irish respondents to the latest eurobarometer survey by the European Commission want the Government to strengthen the country's integration into the EU. The figures put Ireland again at the top of the integrationist league. The average for the 15 member-states is 68 per cent, with the UK at 57 per cent, and the Danes (53 per cent) least enthusiastic.
Support in Ireland undoubtedly reflects the 93 per cent who believe the country has benefited from membership, up five percentage points since December and eight on last year, and by far the most positive in the EU. The closest other countries are Greece (69) and Portugal (68), while only 39 per cent of German and 45 per cent of British believe their country has benefited.
On the treaty-changing Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC), Irish respondents were split between those who thought its priority should be the fight against drugs and international crime (27 per cent) and those for whom unemployment was the top priority (24 per cent). Their degree of awareness of the IGC (34 per cent) was fourth behind Denmark, Finland and Portugal.
The Irish are among those most interested in European politics, with 59 per cent very or quite interested, though less than the Germans (60), Austrians (65) and Greeks (72).
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