The European Union through the eyes of Asia: a comparative study of media perceptions

The analytical approach taken here is innovative and original. While other studies have considered the EUu0092s periphery, such as Turkey and the Ukraine, in terms of European perceptions, as well as within the EU itself through the Eurobarometre, there is an absence of studies so distant from the EU. The methodology of this study is multi-disciplinary in focus, involving a number of social science disciplines and is derived from the experience of the previous studies cited above. This project is scheduled to run for fifteen months (January 2006 u0096 April 2007), and involves media analysis as well as public and elite opinion. Most importantly, the analysis embraces the local language in each region and is not restricted to the English language medium, working in materials in the original languages which are then translated for comparative purposes, into English. In this way we can access what is commonly understood and available in relation to the EU in individual countries.