(VIENNA) - Pro-EU campaigners said Thursday they are attacking prevailing Euro-scepticism in Austria with a new organisation to raise awareness about the European Union, ahead of September polling.

Through talks, information sessions and later a website, "Austria Pro-EU," which was set up last month, is hoping to bring a population often listed as one of the most Euro-sceptic in Europe closer to Brussels.

"We must try to have direct talks with the people," founder Ruediger Morawetz told a press conference in Vienna.

Quick, direct and simple information could help create transparency and a better understanding of the EU's work and that of the Austrian MEPs in Brussels, he said.

The group's drive comes as anti-EU slogans are resurfacing ahead of September 29 snap elections.

Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and Social Democrat leader Werner Fayman also drew criticism in June when they announced in a letter to the anti-EU tabloid Kronen Zeitung that they would submit all future European treaties to a referendum, effectively reversing government policy.

According to the latest Eurobarometer opinion poll published in July, only 36 percent of Austrians think EU membership is "a good thing," compared to an average 52 percent of citizens in the bloc's 26 other member states.

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