Or perhaps they're trying to avoid a repeat of Brexit, which primarily happened because UK media and politicians blamed the EU for literally anything going wron

Or perhaps they're trying to avoid a repeat of Brexit, which primarily happened because UK media and politicians blamed the EU for literally anything going wrong for several decades, while claiming all the benefits as their own. If you want a well-informed population who can meaningfully vote in EU elections, it's pretty much a requirement to make sure the population actually knows what the EU is doing.