Time to get closer?

Can you name your local MEP? What was the Amsterdam Treaty all about? What eastern and central European countries have recently applied for membership of the European Union? What's the value in euros of one Irish pound?

If you can answer all these questions then you're obviously very interested in EU affairs. If you can answer two or three, you're very well informed. If you can't at least answer the last one, the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland will want a word with you.

Our knowledge of Europe is definitely "out of kilter" with that of other subjects, says Philip Ryan, deputy director of the Irish office of the European Commission, which is essentially the civil service of the European Union.

Our knowledge may have been slightly better a few years ago, when all the media coverage about Europe centred on how much EU funding Ireland would receive for infrastructural projects. Today, however, with its economic boom, Ireland is becoming a net contributor rather to than a beneficiary of EU money. As a result, media and public interest in EU affairs has probably dropped a little.

This is confirmed by a regular survey of public awareness and opinions about the EU, called the "Eurobarometer", conducted by the European Commission. The most recent Eurobarometer revealed that while 75 per cent of those surveyed in Ireland supported the State's membership of the EU, this is down from over 80 per cent in 1999. In addition, support for the euro has dropped quite a bit.

"Selling the message that Europe is good for you is more difficult now," says Ryan. However, he believes that the introduction of euro notes and coins will generate a fresh enthusiasm for the European Union. "The coins and notes in their hands will generate a totally different conception in their minds about what it is to be a European," he says.

However, Joe Brosnan, director-general of the Institute of European Affairs, says that while the euro currency will have some impact, particularly in terms of easy price transferability, he would not overestimate its overall knockon effect on people's attitudes to Europe.