Public faith in European unity has slumped as people become increasingly gloomy about economic conditions, according to Washington-based Pew Institute
Public support for the European project has fallen and distrust between countries is growing, according to a new survey released overnight that shows the damage caused by the region's debt crisis over the last few years.
The respected Washington-based Pew Research Centre warned that support for the EU has slid over the last 12 months, from 60% in 2012 to just 45% this year.
In a report titled "The New Sick Man of Europe: the European Union", Pew showed that backing for European integration tumbling in France.
Europeans are increasingly gloomy about economic conditions, disillusioned about their leaders, and losing faith in the whole idea of European Unity, the poll found.
As Pew put it: "The effort over the past half century to create a more united Europe is now the principal casualty of the euro crisis. The European project now stands in disrepute across much of Europe.
"The prolonged economic crisis has created centrifugal forces that are pulling European public opinion apart, separating the French from the Germans and the Germans from everyone else.
"The southern nations of Spain, Italy and Greece are becoming ever more estranged as evidenced by their frustration with Brussels, Berlin and the perceived unfairness of the economic system.
Pew surveyed over 7,600 people in March in eight countries – Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece and the Czech Republic.
It also found that Angela Merkel remains the most popular leader in Europe, by a wide margin. Not just at home – Merkel won majority approval for her handling of the European economic crisis in five of the eight nations surveyed.
Other leaders, though, are in the doghouse, Pew said:
"Compounding their doubts about the Brussels-based European Union, Europeans are losing faith in the capacity of their own national leaders to cope with the economy's woes. In most countries surveyed, fewer people today than a year ago think their national executive is doing a good job dealing with the euro crisis."
Dyspeptic France
The survey found that French people are increasingly disillusioned, with 91% people saying their economy is doing badly – up from 81% a year ago. Pew described the eurozone's second-largest economy as "dyspeptic", warning it is drifting away from Germany.
"No European country is becoming more dispirited and disillusioned faster than France. In just the past year, the public mood has soured dramatically across the board," Pew said.
Two-thirds of those surveyed reckon president Francois Hollande is doing a poor job handling the challenges posed by the economic crisis: 24 percentage points worse that his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Worryingly for Brussels, 77% believed European economic integration has made things worse for France (a rise of 14 percentage points), and 58% now have a bad impression of the European Union as an institution (+18).
National stereotypes
The survey also polled people's views on their fellow European nations. This revealed that Europeans feel that their nation is the "most compassionate", while many chose Germany as the "least compassionate" (although the UK was the favourite pick for both Germans and the French).
In a display of Gallic insouciance, the French identified themselves as both the 'most arrogant' and 'least arrogant'.
Germany was identified as the most trustworthy country by seven nations, apart from the Greeks, who chose Greece.
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