According to a study by the Gallup Institute for the “Debating Europe” platform, 51% of Europeans believe that the austerity policies implemented to combat the crisis have failed, while 5% believes the opposite and 34% believes that more time is needed for the policies to succeed.
As expected, the highest rates of discontent regarding the austerity policies were noted in countries that are currently receiving financial aid in exchange to drastic fiscal reforms and austerity measures. Greece was at the top of the list with an 80% disproval rate, followed by Portugal’s 68% and Cyprus’ 64%. In Ireland, which is about to exits the rescue program, the rate was 34%.
About 60% of Europeans believe that there are better solutions available to tackle the crisis, compared to 16% arguing the opposite. The highest rates were documented in Greece (94%), Portugal (81%) and Spain (80%).
Only about 22% of Europeans estimate that the austerity policies benefit the whole of Europe, compared to 67% which believes these policies only benefit certain countries. When asked to identify these countries, Germany topped the list (77%), followed by France (48%) and Great Britain (39%), while Greece was in fourth position (23%) ahead of Italy and Spain (20%).
The study, which involved 6,177 Europeans respondents, was conducted between the 13th and 23rd of September.
