In the last few years, disinformation in and outside the European Union became an issue with defined consequences. National populisms and polarisation of opinions are posing a real threat to the EU. Fake news and disinformation spread quickly, undermining our confidence in the very concepts of truth, facts, and reality. We have recently witnessed how disinformation was one of the main characters of Brexit and how, since the outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation and fake news have spread worldwide dividing the public opinion while increasing distrust in our institutions. A consortium composed of seven civil society organisations across Europe – the Italian Federation for Human Rights (Italy – lead organisation), TASC Europe Studies Company (Ireland), the European Centre for Economic and Policy Analysis and Affairs (Belgium), the Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Culture and Education (Bulgaria), the Youth Center of Epirus (Greece), the Associação Social Recreativa Cultural e Bem Fazer Vai Avante (Portugal) and Eurasia Net (France) – is implementing the project “CommEUnication – Youth Engagement for Communicating the EU”. The project is funded by the Europe for Citizens Programme of the European Union and aims to counter euroscepticism through the construction of a new strategy of communication able to respond to the needs of the European community as well as to promote a deeper understanding of the EU, specifically its values and its benefits, in order to encourage citizens to increase their engagement as EU citizens and to tackle disinformation.
In order to acknowledge the extent of disinformation in the EU and to get a broader understanding of how much the EU citizens know about the European Union, the consortium conducted the online survey “How much do we know about the EU? A survey about communication and disinformation”. The questions of the survey focused on the policy areas that represent a priority in the EU agenda, but which are also more susceptible to disinformation. The data collected will be used to understand how to promote more information and to better recognise the actual needs of European citizens. The subsequent activities of the project, including trainings for young people, will be shaped on the analysis of such results.
The survey was addressed to EU citizens and was distributed through the partners’ networks. The results of the survey are published in the present report.