The End of the Crisis? The Mood in Europe

The “crisis” is now five years old, and it’s the countries of Europe which have been hardest hit.

New phrases are now trending among our politicians and journalists, ones which were rarely mentioned during the “good times” of the pre-2008 period: “banking crisis”, “double-dip”, “austerity”, “eurozone crisis”. Meanwhile, some older phrases have returned, such as “rising unemployment” and “this recession”.

But what has the effect of all this been on the psyche of people across Europe? This is the subject matter of a major new Ipsos/CGI-Publicis research project. The six-nation survey gives us a panoramic view of the mood on the street in Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Germany, focusing specifically on the crisis and looking ahead to (one hopes) its aftermath.

It covers a lot of ground: our current mindset, our financial situation, our plans for the future. And it also reveals our expectations, looking at the role of individuals, companies, national governments and the European Union.

The full findings are presented here in slide-show format. Below, I have summarised 12 of the emerging themes across these six European countries:

1. Across Europe, things may have been a bit tough “for me”, but it’s been much worse for my fellow-citizens: many of them are feeling “pessimistic” and “worried” (slides 4 and 5)
2. It’s been tough here in Britain, but we seem to have avoided meltdown. The Brits are more likely than average to be saving at least some money. And they are less likely to have made cut-backs on household expenditure, or experience a “life event” directly as a result of the crisis - such as having to move home. In this respect, the British have more in common with the Germans than the French, Spanish or Italians (slides 6-12).
3. Gloom in Italy. The Italians are the most likely to report disruptions to their day-to-day lives, for example cutting back on groceries and travel (slides 10-12)
4. Optimism about what lies ahead in Germany and Poland, where around eight in ten describe their own future as “open” rather than “blocked” (slide 17)
5. Crisis or Opportunity? Germany is the only country which sees the crisis as something which “enables us to get back on our feet by forcing us to make the necessary reforms” (slide 22)
6. ‘Social contract’ under threat? The Germans do however share their neighbours’ concerns about the “negative impact of the crisis on the economic and social situation of citizens in your country”. Poland is the outlier here (slide 23)
7. Difficult times ahead for the next generation. Most Europeans think that things will be tougher for their children “when they are our age” – particularly so in France (slide 20)
8. The jury’s very much out on the EU: There is no consensus whatsoever on whether membership is an “asset”or a “disadvantage”. The Germans and Italians are with the British in the more sceptical camp (slide 36).
9. Austerity matters: The British (and the Spanish) say their government is cutting public expenditure “too much”. The others, by contrast, say what’s being done is “not enough” (slide 28)
10. Immigration is the key to “solving the crisis”, according to 55% of Britons. It is high taxes which are more of a concern for other countries (slide 34)
11. Corporate responsibility: In difficult times, “safeguarding the jobs of their employees” is the main thing people want to see major companies in their country do (slide 40)
12. Making a personal contribution: The British are the most willing to retire one or two years later in order to help their country “overcome the crisis more quickly”. They are less comfortable, on the other hand, with “forgoing 3 or 4 days of leave in the year” (slide 49)

Fieldwork for the Ipsos/CGI - Publicis survey was conducted online between 14 March and 7 April 2013. A total of 6,198 respondents were interviewed in six European markets: France (1,021), Germany (1,013), Spain (1,059), Great Britain (1,040), Italy (1,009) and Poland (1,056).