THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION REPORT. Europe in a period of transition

EUROPEAN CITIZENS AND THEIR OPINION ON THE EUROPEAN PROJECT DURING THE PANDEMIC 43 declared themselves to be satisfied with EU management (5.2) but score their government’s actions very negatively (3.6, the lowest score). Germany and Sweden, the coun- tries that give the highest score to the EU’s action (5.3) are in turn most satisfied with their respective govern- ments (5.5 for Sweden and 5.6 for Germany). The EB94 compiles this same trend and shows that 56% of citizens are not satisfied with the measures taken by their respective governments to fight coronavirus com- pared to a scarce 43% that are. Levels of satisfaction with national governments have plummeted since summer 2020, dropping 19 points, thereby reversing the trend and dissatisfaction is now the majority option. Furthermore, according to this study, the satisfaction level has dropped in all Member States on summer 2020.The countries most satisfied with measures undertaken by their national gov- ernments are Denmark (79%), Luxemburg (73%) and the Netherlands (71%); the least satisfied are Slovakia (25%), the Czech Republic (24%) and Latvia (21%). However, compared to the figures compiled by the Istituto Cattaneo, the Eurobarometers seem to indicate a drop in satisfaction among Europeans in relation to measures adopted by the European Union to fight the coronavirus pandemic. According to the EB94, 49% of Europeans are not satisfied with the EU’s management and 43% are. The EBS corroborates this trend and men- tions that 50% of citizens are dissatisfied compared to 48% who say they are satisfied. EB94 figures show that dissatisfaction has gone up 5 points since summer 2020 and the positive trend thus far has been reversed. Both Eurobarometers indicate that France, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and Greece are the countries least satisfied with the EU’s measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic. France, Germany and Greece also have the highest percentages of “very dissatisfied” citizens. On the other hand, Denmark, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Ireland, Bulgaria, Malta, Poland, Sweden, Hungary, Cro- atia and Cyprus make up the group of countries with a majority of satisfied citizens according to both surveys. Denmark heads the classification in both studies (68% satisfied citizens in EB94, 81% in EBS). If we look at the EB94 data for Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Poland, we see that the same trends occur as in the CI survey. On the one hand, there would be the States that are not happy either with manage- ment by the EU or their respective government: this is the case of Italy, France and Spain. In Italy and in Spain, citizens seem to be a little more satisfied with the actions undertaken by the EU (46% for Italy, 44% for Spain) than with their own government (39% in Italy, 30% in Spain) although neither reach the 50% satisfaction lev- el. In France, where citizens are also highly dissatisfied with management by their institutions, satisfaction is a little higher for national management (32% satisfaction for the EU and 36% for national management). On the other hand, there is Poland that is very satisfied with EU management (55%) and very dissatisfied with national management (36%). The most drastic change can be seen in the last group of countries, Sweden and Germa- ny. Sweden continues to record high satisfaction levels, both with the EU and with its government (55% satis- faction for the EU and 60% for its government). There is a particularly spectacular drop in Germany’s level of satisfaction regarding EU measures (-16 points according to the EB94) between summer 2020 and winter 20/21 (from 49 to 33%).The satisfaction level regarding nation- al management remains relatively high (52%). The various surveys tell us that European citizens do not rate highly either the measures taken by the EU to fight the coronavirus pandemic or the measures from their respective governments. However, criticism of EU actions does not seem to have affected either their trust or citizens’ positive image of it. Belonging, trust and image of the EU throughout the crisis To start, we will look at the satisfaction rates regarding belonging to the EU. 55% of survey respondents for the Instituto Cattaneo think that it is positive that their cou- ntry belongs to the EU compared to 17% that consider