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# The problem of public ignorance, continued
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/the-problem-of-public-ignorance-continued/
- Published: 2007-10-01T16:10:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-17T10:24:04.000Z
- Author: J Clive Matthews
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:31, #ImagesUploaded

![Are we too ignorant to understand the EU?](https://www.opendemocracy.net/content/files/2026/04/1468751312_6150e3696a_o_qW2pISj-1776421369405.jpg)

Are we too ignorant to understand the EU?

*Following* [*part 1*](https://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/dliberation/public%5Fignorance%5Fpart1) *of my look at the lack of knowledge of the EU among the public at large,* [*part 2*](https://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/dliberation/preconditions%5Ftaboos) *became a look at the likelihood of Commissioner Wallstrom's calls for a proper, informed public debate over the EU's future - a problem that lies at the heart of the Tomorrow's Europe deliberative poll, and on which Friends of Europe's Giles Merritt touches in his intriguing look at* [*the need for euroscepticism*](https://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/dliberation/euroscepticism%5Fsave%5Feurope)*, published earlier today. Now comes part three...*

Any long-term EU watchers will doubtless be aware that the European Union is usually both incredibly dull and insanely complex. I don't pretend to understand half of the bloody thing, despite being fairly intelligent, well-educated, and having worked in politics in both Brussels and Westminster in my time. Having read the old constitution text all the way through, though I think I understood most of it the damned thing was so long I really couldn't be certain - and the new Reform Treaty merely exacerbates the problem.

But while supporters of the referendum idea always shout this down with accusations that even bringing it up shows a patronising, paternalistic, anti-democratic contempt for the public's intelligence, it's simply true: the European public as a whole do not and probably can not understand enough about the complexities of EU reform to make an adequate judgement in a referendum.

That lack of understanding would most likely lead to a low turn-out (as with [the 42% turnout in the Spanish referendum](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4280841.stm?ref=opendemocracy.net) on the old Constitution). It would also mean that the extremists at either end of the EU spectrum - the withdrawalists on one side and the superstatists on the other - will get to settle the matter by sheer weight of numbers and organisational skill.

In the UK, of course, the Eurosceptics are far better mobilised, and [have the press on their side to boot](https://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/dliberation/eu%5Fand%5Fthe%5Fmedia). In any referendum, following a solid two decades of populist (and frequently exaggerated if not outright inaccurate) anti-EU rhetoric seeping from press and politicians in a constant stream, the UK's population is likely to vote "no" not because they've assessed the merits of the constitution / treaty, but through petty partisan/patriotic ignorance.

That, at least, is how it will most likely be represented by supporters of the new treaty.

The added problem with a UK vote is the ongoing uncertainty over whether or not Gordon Brown is going to call a general election. In the French referendum on the EU constitution, mid-way through the term of a decidedly unpopular president, [turnout was 70%](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4592243.stm?ref=opendemocracy.net), and the result went against the government. In that case, the "Non" was blamed on disatisfaction with Chirac rather than a dislike for the text itself, despite one of the most informed and lively public debates on EU reform yet seen in a major member state.

So, if a UK referendum were to be held before a general election, the result could be dismissed as being due to domestic irritation; if after, it could be dismissed due to an almost inevitable low turnout. And it's all the fault of the public being seen to be ignorant.