The EU – a bureaucracy remote from its citizens? This is the image of the EU that its citizens have, and the European Union has a hard time shaking it off. The EU itself has recognized the problem: "It [the EU] has focussed largely on telling people what the EU does: less attention has been paid to listening to people’s views." (White Paper, COM(2006) 35 final, Brussels 01.02.2006, p. 4).