On January 27th at the Makedonia Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki a Workshop of the European Democratic Party and the Union of Centrists on “EU Democracies in Action: Policy Challenges and Perspectives” was conducted.
The programme covered:
- Mass Media: Public opinion, conflict of interest and concentration of ownership
- Electoral systems in the EU: Prospects and obstacles for the adoption of a common electoral system
- Public opinion and electoral poll
Costas Sigalos, CEO of Global Link was invited by Marios Georgiadis (EDP Vice President, VP of Hellenic Parliament, MP for Athens A’ Union of Centrists) to analyze the results of recent opinion polls in Greece, UK, USA and France. He concluded that Opinion Polls cannot be as accurate as physical sciences are, since they measure attitudes which may be fluid, commenting that any observed discrepancies between forecasted and actual results, are continuously investigated in order to minimize possible imperfections of the research process. However, well conducted polls are essential for democracy, being the only reliable method to evaluate current public opinion.
The Workshop was attended by EDP MPs from Greece and other countries, journalists, leading industrialists of Northern Greece and representatives of political parties.