Tuesday 13 November 2012   –   Twitter  #ECSurvey

BRUSSELS: Burson-Marsteller Brussels and EurActiv announced the results of their 2010-2014 European Commission Mid-Term Review today at an event in Brussels.

The results clearly show a further deterioration in the perceived performance of the European Commission over the past year. Overall, the 811 survey respondents rated the individual performances of most Commissioners quite poorly. They believe the performance of the Barroso II Commission, both collectively and individually, has deteriorated over the past year. Respondents seek more ambition and focus during the Commission’s last two years in office.

European Commissioner Neelie Kroes was the star performer. She received the highest individual rating (6/10) with a very strong assessment for her work on the Digital Agenda, was identified as having showed the “biggest improvement” in performance, and she was also ranked the “best communicator” of the current European Commission. Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, and the Vice-President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, received the most individual ratings and the worst scores by far (2/10 and 2.5/10 respectively). By contrast, Commissioners Janez Potočnik (Environment, 5/10), Kristalina Georgieva (International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, 5.5/10) and Maroš Šefčovič (Inter-institutional Relations & Administration, 5/10) were assessed as relatively strong performers.

The survey also queried into who might be in the running for the job of Commission President in 2014. Candidates from the three main European political families stand out in the top 3 results: Guy Verhofstadt (BE) is the clear choice within the Liberal family (17.9%), Tony Blair (UK) is the somewhat surprising top favourite for the Socialists of votes (16.3%), and Angela Merkel is the ‘preferred’ (19.3%) and José Manuel Barroso the ‘likely’ candidate for the EPP (8.2%).

David Earnshaw, CEO of Burson-Marsteller Brussels, said: “The results of our Mid-Term Review show that the Commission – as we found last year - must do better. At a time when Europe is more necessary than ever, the Commission needs more ambition. Less than one per cent of respondents give the Commission full marks. The message for the Commission as a whole – and also for individual Commissioners - is that they need to do a lot better!”

Daniela Vincenti, Editor-in-Chief of EurActiv.com, said: “The principal policy challenge, not surprisingly, for the remainder of the mandate of the Barroso II Commission is the economic and financial crisis. Growth, jobs and social policy were among the top two priorities of for more than a third of respondents. Looking further ahead, our survey suggests a clear desire for the next President of the European Commission to be a ‘big-hitter’.”

The 2010-2014 European Commission Mid-Term Review online survey garnered 811 respondents from all corners of the EU policy-making world (MEPs, government officials (national and European), consultancies, trade associations and corporate representatives, Media, NGOs and think tanks, …). The full list of the survey questions and methodology is also available on www.bmbrussels.eu.

The survey results are available in a summary report “The European Commission – Mid-Term Review” and in full detail on www.bmbrussels.eu. A compilation of responses to open-ended questions and the survey methodology is also available. Another article on the survey’s findings has also been published on EurActiv.com/MidTermReview.

Press contact: Mayssa Badr - Burson-Marsteller Brussels - Mayssa.badr@bm.com - Tel: +32.2.743.66.98 or Mobile: +32.476.32.14.58