Low awareness of Danish MEPs is due to limited media coverage. Danish voters struggle to remember the names of their representatives in the EU Parliament. According to a new survey by Voxmeter, almost two out of three respondents cannot mention a single one of the 14 Danish EU politicians. Specifically, 62.2 percent answer “do not know” to the question, which was asked verbally. The result is close to a similar survey from 2019, where 64 percent could not mention any of the politicians.
Derek Beach, a professor at Aarhus University, finds the result expected. He points out that the reason for the low awareness is due to lack of media coverage. “No matter how skilled the politicians are, their work is not covered by the media,” he says.
Venstre’s (The Liberal Party) Morten Løkkegaard was the most well-known among the respondents, with almost one in five able to mention him. At the opposite end of the scale is the Social Democrat Marianne Vind, whom only 0.7 percent of the respondents could mention. Vind attributes the low recognition to a general lack of media interest in her work. “I have done a lot of interesting legislation, but it’s hard to break through media coverage,” she says.
Marianne Vind highlights, among other things, a road package that ensures equal conditions for hauliers and truck drivers, as well as a platform directive that improves the conditions for people working for platforms like Wolt.
Derek Beach emphasizes that while the work in the EU is important, it often struggles to gain traction in the media. “The work is not user-friendly and often lacks the conflict that makes stories interesting for the media,” explains the professor.
With election day on June 9th on the horizon, Marianne Vind is trying to connect with voters at supermarkets and other public places. She believes in re-election, as she meets many who recognize her. “I have many volunteers campaigning, and I meet many people on the street who know who I am,” she says.
In the election, Danes will choose 15 MEPs for the next five years.