Brussels - Less than half of Europe's citizens are interested in June's European Parliament elections, and only a third of them currently plan to take part in the ballot, according to an unreleased survey obtained Tuesday by the German Press Agency dpa. The Eurobarometer survey, expected to be published later this week, polled some 27,000 citizens from the 27-member bloc between January and February.

It found that while awareness about the June ballot was on the rise, only 44 per cent of respondents expressed "interest" in the election, and just 34 per cent of them said they "will probably vote".

By contrast, 53 per cent of respondents said they were not interested in the election, and 15 per cent said they "will definitely not vote."

The survey's authors, however, stressed that the findings should not be used to predict a low turnout.

They noted that polling took place during a period in which the news was dominated by the global economic crisis, the inauguration of US President Barack Obama and the conflict in the Gaza Strip, and that voting intentions can only be adequately monitored once the election campaign gets under way.

Reasons given by respondents for not voting include not knowing enough about the role of the European Parliament (64 per cent), a belief that the vote "will not change anything" (62 per cent), and not being sufficiently informed to go to vote (59 per cent).

Asked what the election campaign should focus on, the respondents' wish list was topped by economic issues such as unemployment (57 per cent), economic growth (52 per cent) and inflation (40 per cent).

Awareness about the June ballot was found to be highest in Luxembourg (66 per cent) and Malta (64 per cent), and lowest in Finland (86 per cent) and Britain (84 per cent).

The European Commission has been spearheading efforts to convince citizens to vote, including through an MTV television campaign aimed especially at young people.

Voter turnout among citizens aged between 18 and 24 was just 40 per cent during the 2004 elections.

The latest Eurobarometer poll also found that EU citizens were losing confidence in the bloc's insitutions such as the European Commission and the European Central Bank.(dpa)