Less than half of Europeans satisfied with EU's actions to combat pandemic
16:51
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Europeans still trust the European Union, although most believe that EU institutions should have more competence in dealing with crises, according to the latest Eurobarometer. Eight out of ten citizens declare that they have heard or read in the media about the European Union's actions to combat the pandemic – but only 48 percent knows what these mean. At the same time, only 48 percent of Europeans have a positive opinion of the measures taken by the EU to counter the pandemic, while half have a negative view of them.
In more than a year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, already 31 percent of EU citizens felt its negative impact on their personal financial situation. Another 26 percent expects to feel this impact in the coming months.
However, these values differ from one Member State to another. For example, in Poland, 36 percent of people felt the impact of the pandemic on their finances, and another 35 percent believe that their financial situation is only to get worse due to the coronavirus crisis. Only 28 percent declare that the pandemic has not yet had an impact on their finances and is unlikely to affect them yet.
Despite the coronavirus crisis, the majority, i.e. 58 percent of EU citizens believe that in their countries the health benefits of restrictions (e.g. in the movement or operation of commercial and service premises) are greater than the economic losses resulting from restrictions. This is the opinion of the citizens of most EU countries. The situation is slightly different in Poland, where opinions are divided. In our country, only 49 percent of respondents consider the positives resulting from the restrictions applied by the government to be more important than the negative economic consequences.
