Irish people are among Europeans with the highest awareness of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), according to a new survey.
Across Europe 54 per cent of those polled had never heard of the CAP.
According to a Eurobarometer survey which polled EU citizens' attitude towards the CAP, Italians had the lowest awareness of the CAP, and the French the highest.
However, the Irish and Danes had a 66 per cent awareness of the policy, just seven points behind the French on 73 per cent.
Those polled felt that the primary role of the CAP was to ensure agricultural products were healthy and safe . This was particularly true of the Irish and the Finns.
Although a majority of EU citizens were in favour of the role played by the CAP, considerably fewer said it fulfilled its role well in these areas.
Quality of food products was an important issue for EU citizens, especially in northern countries. A quality food product had to have a good, natural taste, look appetising, and be produced under strict, hygienic conditions, the survey found.
It also established that EU citizens would apparently be ready to pay more to have higher quality meat and vegetables, and would trust them more if the EU could guarantee the origin or the way a product was produced.
A majority of EU citizens, especially in the southern countries, support the idea of a European quality label.