ABSTRACT
Geographical barriers include the sheer distance of citizens from the Parliament, the large constituency sizes, and the lack of a single recognisable parliamentary site. In comparison to the majority of the national parliaments, the European Parliament (EP) is physically further removed from its citizenry. Another geographical barrier to citizen awareness and support is the size of a citizen’s electoral constituency and the related issue of the ratios of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to population totals. Compounding the geographical barriers to contact, awareness and support are institutional barriers such as the number of institutions and the ever-evolving complexity of procedures and areas of competence. Although Eurobarometer data on awareness of the EP through the media has shown evidence of fluctuation in between elections, the dominant trend is still that awareness heightens around election time. Support for the EP among its citizens can be measured by a number of indicators.
