As Europeans become increasingly worried about rising prices, many believe that their standard of living will worsen in the future.
Almost one-third of citizens (29 percent) believe that their personal standard of living will decline over the next five years, while only 18 percent expect it to improve, according to a Eurobarometer poll released today.
The survey, which gathered responses from over 26,000 people across the EU, shows marked divisions in pessimism between generations: economic anxiety hits 34 percent among those aged 55 and over, compared with just 17 percent of younger respondents who share the same view.
Expectations also vary significantly from one country to another. Western member states tend to record a higher percentage of negative responses, led by France, where a bloc-high 44 percent of respondents expect their situation to worsen.
Portugal, Germany and Austria show similar results, while outlooks are more positive in Nordic countries and Central and Eastern Europe. In Poland, only 9 percent expect their situation to deteriorate, while Hungary records the lowest level of economic pessimism in the entire bloc, at just 8 percent.
The European problem
In some countries, a pessimistic view may be linked to a negative perception of the European Union, according to a European Parliament official familiar with the matter.
Despite the EU’s overall image remaining positive among 50 percent of citizens and negative among 17 percent, the gap is narrower in countries such as France, Austria, Greece and Czechia.
French and Austrian citizens are also among the most sceptical about the benefits of their countries’ EU membership. Only 62 percent of respondents in both countries believe the overall balance has been positive, the lowest level in Europe after Bulgaria (57 percent).
“There are several factors to take into account, but economic uncertainty and rising prices could influence the way the EU is perceived,” the official said, when asked whether the erosion of purchasing power is contributing to the rise of eurosceptic parties such as National Rally or the Austrian Freedom Party.
The overall negative outlook on the future is accompanied by growing concerns about “inflation, rising prices and the cost of living”, which rank as the top issues citizens would like the European Parliament to address.
This is the main concern for 47 percent of EU citizens, 6 percent more than in the previous survey, when it was already ranked first, followed by “economy and job creation” and “EU defence security”.
Almost one third of respondents (27 percent) say their quality of life has deteriorated over the past 12 months, while 11 percent believe it has improved and 62 percent say it has remained unchanged.