‘Nearly half’ of Belgians back EU constitution

9 May 2005

BRUSSELS – If the Belgians were called upon to vote in a referendum on Europe’s new constitution, nearly half the population would probably approve it.

In a survey published on Monday in French-language daily Le Soir, 49 percent of respondents said they would “probably or certainly” vote for the draft European Union constitution, compared to 12 percent who said they would definitely vote against it.

A sizable 65 percent of respondents said they had heard of the EU constitution.

But only 23 percent claimed to “fully or more or less” understand it, and another 37 percent said they hardly understood it at all.

Another 35 percent of respondents described themselves “not concerned” with the draft constitution.

At the same time, 33 percent admitted they had never heard of it before.

The Flemish seemed to be the least informed, while Brussels residents, the Bruxellois, were the best informed.

Nine percent of respondents said they would not bother to vote if a referendum were to be held in Belgium and 28 percent said they had no opinion on the subject.

[Copyright Expatica 2005]

Subject: Belgian news