External Perceptions of the European Union: A Survey of New Zealanders' Perceptions and Attitudes towards the European Union. NCRE Research Series No. 1, February-March 2003
[From the Introduction] The changing profile of New Zealand society, the possible weakening of traditional ties to the UK, as well as New Zealand’s potential Asian “identity”, all serve to underline the need for empirical analysis of contemporary general public perceptions of Europe, one of the dominant economic, political and cultural partners for New Zealand. On the other side of this important relationship, the European Union places great value on its external relations. This initial study offers a unique view of the EU from the outside; the findings constitute the beginning of a longer-term analysis of NZ-EU perceptions. This brochure presents the results and concluding comments of a quantitative study of the perceptions of the EU among New Zealand citizens. The study was launched and carried out by the National Centre for Research on Europe, at the University of Canterbury. These results are the first of their kind in New Zealand. There has been no previous study that explores public opinion on the EU within New Zealand. It is hoped that this report will be useful to all those interested in this important region. It is also anticipated that the survey will be repeated at regular intervals to track the trends in New Zealand views of the EU
