22/11/2006, by Mark Beunderman on EUobserver.com:

A spring Eurobarometer poll on energy which still awaits publication - revealing a drop in public support for EU powers in this area - highlights the European Commission’s strategic use of its Eurobarometer surveys in promoting key policies.

The energy poll, conducted last spring, reveals a decline in public backing for the idea that the EU rather than national governments should take decisions on energy – representing a blow to commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso who has identified energy as one of his flagship projects.

The disappointing Eurobarometer survey was circulating in the commission and obtained by EUobserver in July, but is still waiting to be released, with officials now aiming to make it public before the end of this month.

(…) The slow proceedings contrast with the swift and pro-active communication by Brussels of the previous, more positive autumn survey on energy which was released in January.

This poll was not only published within two months after the fieldwork, it was also personally presented by energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs and highlighted by a press release stating “European citizens in favour of a European Energy policy, says Eurobarometer survey.”

The latest energy poll however is set to be merely put on the Eurobarometer website, with Brussels not planning a press conference or even a press release.

Timing and communication
The contrasting PR procedures applied to the two energy polls highlight the various degrees of what commission officials call “active communication” of Eurobarometer surveys.

The time between fieldwork and publication of Eurobarometer polls vary considerably, from a few weeks - such as in the case of this month’s roaming survey - to up to almost a year, like in the case of a 2003 AIDS study.

A commission communication spokesman said that decisions on whether or not to attract attention to Eurobarometer polls are not political.

(…)

Read the whole article EUobserver.com.