No. 66/03
October 27, 2003

The initial results of a new survey carried out on behalf of the European Commission show that a majority of Europeans want the United Nations and the provisional government to manage the rebuilding of Iraq. The survey, Iraq and Peace in the World (Flash Eurobarometer 151), was conducted in all 15 EU member states between October 8-16, 2003. The margin of error at EU level is +/- 1.2 points.

The full report will be available next week at http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/flash/
fl151_iraq_full_report.pdf.

Initial findings indicate that:

An average of 58% of Europeans, and 72% of Britons, want the UN to manage the rebuilding of Iraq. The United States emerges as the least trusted (18%), less than the EU (25%) or the provisional government (44%).

While more than half of European citizens (54%) favor their country’s financial participation in rebuilding Iraq, a majority of EU citizens also say the US should pay for the rebuilding of Iraq (65%). This feeling is strongest in Germany where 84% of citizens want the US to take responsibility for financing the reconstruction. EU citizens (82%), led by the Greeks (93%), are strongly in favor of providing humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq.

As far as peacekeeping is concerned, more European citizens (43%) would prefer that UN peacekeeping forces or the UN in general (19%) guarantee Iraq’s security. France shows the highest approval (54%) for UN peacekeeping. Only 5% of Europeans want the US and its allies to be responsible for security in Iraq. A majority of Europeans (54%) are not in favor of sending troops to Iraq, although there are strong differences of opinion, for example between Germany, where 71% of the population is against sending troops to Iraq, and Denmark, where 77% are in favor.

More than two-thirds (68%) of Europeans believe today that military intervention in Iraq was not justified. High percentages against the intervention were also recorded in Spain (79%) and UK (51%), both allies of the US. Only in Denmark (57%) did the majority believe it was justified. In addition, most Europeans (55%) say they still feel threatened by terrorism, with people in Spain (76%) and the UK (76%) most frequently afraid.

As for the larger issue of Middle East peace, 81% of Europeans think that the EU should play an important role in resolving the Middle East conflict. The highest support for the EU to play a leading role is seen in Greece (90%) and Italy (89%).