The debate about whether or not there is a European public opinion is depressingly futile. Where people are bound together by history and culture, through shared religious, linguistic or political tradition, it may be possible to generate campaigns that have cross-border appeal. In post-war Europe, for instance, the yearning for peace and stability provided a rational basis for initiatives that had broad public support – the Council of Europe and the first tentative steps towards economic co-operation that led to the creation of the European Union.

 

Everyone had something to gain from these projects, so long as they contributed towards their desire for settled, secure and reasonably comfortable living conditions. But their point of reference has always been local. European ideas and integration are all very well, but it’s the jobs, schools, social rights and quality of life around the corner that count for people. And they always have.

 

Selling a grand idea – like a European Constitution – only has meaning if people understand how it will make a positive difference to their everyday lives. American journalist Walter Lippman, writing 80 years ago, warned political leaders in the US about this practical reality. They couldn’t be expected, he said, to have a rational dialogue with their constituents about essential ideas like justice, or law and order. It would be too unwieldy, it would take too long and it wouldn’t ensure the desired outcome. Recent experience of trying to win popular support for the EU's Constitution has proved him right.

 

Even where there is rational dialogue – and last year's nationwide debate in France over the constitutional treaty was as good as it gets – local anxiety about non-constitutional issues like globalisation, employment, social welfare and the performance of the national government inevitably pushed wider European considerations to the margin.

 

It’s not that people do not care about Europe, it’s just not important enough to override their immediate worries about what’s happening at home. It is national public opinion that matters. Just as important is how people perceive the information they get. The advocacy of what we believe is called education, and the advocacy of what we don’t believe is propaganda, said Edward Bernays, the inventor of modern public relations; these days, too much of what Brussels has to say is seen from a national perspective as propaganda.

 

European public opinion may yet emerge as a viable force at some future time, and in this respect the long-term value of migration should never be under-estimated, but for now the European message has to resonate in a local context. And that is where the battle for the European project has to be fought.