Europe 2013: A Continent Adrift

2013 Adrift

EUROPE A continent_

A Publicis Groupe study on emerging from recession in Europe, produced by Ipsos/CGI and FreeThinking

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“EuropE Adrift” by Maurice Lévy 4

About this survEy 9

rEsuLts of thE ipsos/CGi quAntitAtivE study 10

Main take-aways 12

I Crisis has a real impact on the attitudes and behaviour of Europeans 13

II Upturn still uncertain: has Europe broken down? 17

III Those involved in the way out of the crisis: governments, companies or citizens? 20

detailed results 24

I Social climate and expectations 25

II Stakeholders and their state of mind 47

III Strengths and weaknesses 51

IV Composing with the crisis 69

rEsuLts of thE frEEthinkinG quALitAtivE study 78

I From shock to serenity, perceptions of the crisis are not just a little different – they’re worlds apart 80

II All together or alone against everyone? Two opposing views of the main players in the recovery process 86

III Over-prepared, well-prepared, unprepared: countries are confronting recession with very uneven skill-sets 92

IV How can we emerge from the crisis? Different visions of the efforts required 100

SUMMaRy

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2013 Adrift

EUROPE

A continent_

A Publicis Groupe study on emerging from recession in Europe, produced by Ipsos/CGI and FreeThinking

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For months, statistics have detailed the decline of the European economy, with slumping confidence by business leaders and above all, citizens and consumers. Like every manager of a company, this has worried me deeply.

To guide the decisions made by Publicis Groupe, and to shape insights that can help our clients make key choices, I felt that we needed to better understand the general outlook of Europe’s citizens, and especially their behavior as consumers. I therefore launched two complementary studies: one, quantitative, which looked at more than 6000 Europeans, with Ipsos/CGI; and a second, qualitative study led by FreeThinking, an entity within Publicis Groupe, which focused on 400 Europeans.

The insights yielded by these studies are important, but they should not be surprising. The situation is grim; the future appears blocked. Confidence in national institutions has been badly damaged, while the institutions of the European Union have dropped out of sight. Even more striking is the sharp division between North and South. Poles, Germans and Britons are managing the recession better: they feel stronger, and although they don’t place great hope in Europe and its institutional bodies, they are more optimistic overall. The Spanish and Italians are stunned and have almost no resilience left – no capacity for recovery or hope. As for the French, despite an economy that is objectively in better shape than that of neighboring Latin countries, they have clearly swung southwards.

This economic and financial crisis has had tangible impact on the daily lives of citizens. This is an era of restriction, of spending cuts, of frequent sacrifice and constant prudence. From North to South the gravity of the situation does of course vary, but the overall movement of retraction is the same. Europeans have tightened their belts; and worse yet, they are

“EUROPEadRift” by Maurice Lévy

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bracing to tighten those belts further, for they are worried. They have or will cut consumption in every sector – even food.

Their fears are tenacious and severe. When Europeans think of the future, what looms above all is the fear of poverty and relegation to a lower social class – even social exclusion – both for themselves and for their children. With the exception of Poland, it is to some degree the very notion of generational progress that is affected. Personally, each individual imagines that he or she will be able to manage better than others, but an attitude of pessimism is what dominates, and it is deepening. This is certainly one of the major lessons of this study: three-quarters of respondents believe that Europe is digging deeper into crisis. Can the policy measures that are currently planned or underway help end this recession? Only the Germans and – by a short majority – the Poles say they believe this. Tragically, politicians (both national and at a European level) have been unable to communicate the need for profound reform of the archaic structures that hamper the Old Continent’s indispensable adaptation to the economic challenges arising from globalization: competitivity, flexibility and so on. We are undergoing a terrible crisis of institutional and political leadership. Do our respondents believe that any one institutional actor could contribute more, or do better than, the others in the struggle to end the crisis? Apparently not. This massive discredit extends across European institutions, national governments, political parties – both in power and in the opposition – and trade unions. Only 1 European out of every 4 or 5 still trusts these bodies. Everywhere, across every subject and in every community, the credibility of our political and social actors seems durably damaged.

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We are also observing a strong, and doubtless historic, disengagement from the European Union. Europe, which was for so long perceived as a shield, is now viewed as a handicap almost as often as it is seen as an asset. One wonders how the leaders of the European Union’s institutions can continue to be oblivious to this evident failure.

The image of the business sector has been less badly affected, although it is far from glorious. Interestingly, the public trusts small and medium companies regarding employment, and large corporations for management of public services.

Another important lesson regarding public finances and the nonchalance of the leaders responsible for them: the respondents to our studies demonstrate far greater maturity, realism and clarity than their political leaders imagine. Apart from the British and Spanish (certainly for different, and easily understandable, reasons), respondents feel that their governments have not sufficiently confronted the need for vigorous public spending cuts.

Does this indicate that we should place greater trust in the intelligence of our fellow citizens? Would a resolutely realistic, even Churchillian, discourse be more effective than attempts to pacify or anesthetize Europeans with illusions? The public does not believe in childish lullabies. Citizens are entirely conscious of the reality of the recession, and they are impatient to see radical and vigorous measures to grapple with and resolve these problems.

With few exceptions, when asked about the principal handicap that holds back our societies, Europeans name excessive levels of public spending; taxes (some even describe an «overdose»); and de-industrialization. If there is any reason for hope, it is this clarity of vision. They are also

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growing more closely interested in the «Made in Country X» theme, and are more conscious of their roles as citizen-consumers.

Europeans are also inclined to make many more personal sacrifices than is generally believed: this factor, too, should encourage strong policy and action. A broad majority of respondents say they are ready to engage new training programs to change their professions. They also accept the idea that social welfare benefits should vary with income. Two-thirds are ready to save more for their retirement. A majority – albeit a short majority – is even ready to reduce the duration of vacations, or to extend the number of working years before retirement (in particular in France). This could be an important point for ongoing reform of European pension systems and welfare benefit systems, encouraging a more significant portion of capital funding or, perhaps better, points-based pension schemes. The European consumer is making painful decisions. He or she has already cut a number of budget items, and is considering lifestyle choices that are far more severe than any under discussion by governments. They include massive cuts in budgets for clothing and equipment, as well as delays in automobile purchases.

Alongside this sacrifice or reduction of a number of basic budgets, a new system of values is taking shape. In the short or medium term, it seems likely that consumers will tend to reject products that are disposable; products which build in rapid obsolescence; and those that have been imported for no real reason across great distances. This is an important new point that should lead us to rethink a number of core axioms regarding consumer societies, as well as encouraging us to restructure our strategies for marketing and communication.

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abOUt thiS

This study is disturbing – and thus extremely useful – in many different ways. Ultimately, I think, its main take-aways are these:

- Yes, the effects of this recession will be deep, cruel and lasting. Given the degree of disenchantment now evident, and the corrosive nature of its underlying causes – distrust, multiple forms of suffering, disengagement and rage – the task of reconstruction that must be engaged by the leaders of our political, economic and social institutions is simply immense. It would be criminal to underestimate this, or to remain oblivious to it.

- Europeans feel that the business sector will have an essential role in ending the crisis, and this magnifies our responsibility as heads of companies. Never has there been such a strong requirement of invention and re-invention, or so great a duty to boost employment.

- Profound shifts are currently taking shape among consumers, and business leaders will need to anticipate these. Yesterday’s formulas will not work any longer. We need to find new solutions through innovation, inventivity, and precise and attentive marketing.

- Closer to home, I note that the French are the most pessimistic of all Europeans in this study, for they see clearly that real reforms have not yet been effected and are anxious about the absence of a clearly outlined future.

“There can be no hope without fear, and no fear without hope” said the great 17th century philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Here we see the fear of a somber future. We must hope that it will inspire decision-makers to put an end to their illusions about growth on credit, via galloping levels of debt – and that they will now lead a determined drive for the structural reforms and public spending cuts that can be the only basis for a European future grounded in healthy, solid and sustainable growth.

Maurice Lévy

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The dimensions of the current European recession are unparalleled in the past 80 years; they extend to every kind of economic, social and political equation. These are questions that need answers. And the answers can only come from people in the front line; people who confront recession daily –Europeans themselves.

How are ordinary Europeans reacting to the recession? Do they fear the worst is yet to come, or feel that better days are coming? How do they think their countries will overcome the crisis –deploying what assets, what skills, thanks to which decisive actors? What reforms are Europeans prepared to envisage in order to re-boot economic growth and push back unemployment? Which measures do they view as necessary, acceptable, indispensable –or, on the contrary, pointless, even counter-productive? Finally, how and to what extent are they prepared to reshape their daily lives in order to adapt to the new reality?

In order to explore these topics with depth and insight, Publicis Groupe recently set up an unprecedented and ambitious new Europe-wide study grounded in two parallel and complementary investigations.

• �A�quantitative�study�by�Ipsos/CGI�across�six�of�the�most�symbolically�vital�countries�of the European Union: France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Poland.

• �A�qualitative�online�study�led�by�FreeThinking�–Publicis�Groupe’s�collaborative�research�lab –to look at five communities in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

These two complementary studies outline the contours of Europe’s economic and social landscape, as seen by its citizens. They also paint a portrait of their personal economic situations, whether or not recession has hit them hard–how and what they consume, their fears, and their hopes for the future.

How will Europe find its way out of recession –and indeed, will it ever do so? Who will emerge from this trial stronger, and who will have been weakened?

abOUt thiS SURvEy

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RESULtS Of thE iPSOS/cgi

qUantitativE StUdy

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Ipsos questioned, from March 14th to April 7th, 2013, over 6,000 people aged 18 and over and living in 6 main countries of the European Union: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Poland.

Using the Internet to question over 1,000 people in each of these countries, the aim was to be able to analyse the results at different levels:

• At the global level, looking at the results of the answers from all respondents, whatever their country of residence, including by certain criteria concerning all respondents: young vs old, the most educated Europeans vs the least educated;

• At the national level, to highlight where each country is on the issues raised and to be able to create categories;

• At the infra-national level, in order to analyse, in more detail, within a country, differences between categories of population.

France: 1,021 respondentsGermany: 1,013 respondentsSpain: 1,059 respondentsGreat Britain: 1,040 respondentsItaly: 1,009 respondentsPoland: 1,056 respondents

Fieldwork conducted from March 14th to the April 7th, 2013.

Method: National representative samples interviewed online.

MEthOdOLOgy

Sample

Europe 6,198 respondents, including:

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Main ta kE-awayS

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kE-awayS

i. cRiSiS haS a REaL iMPact On thE attitUdES and bEhaviOUR Of EUROPEanS.

a majority of Europeans believe that their personal situation has deteriorated due to the crisis.

For more than half of the Europeans questioned, the crisis has exacerbated the difficulties they were experienc-ing (60%, of which 40% “a little” and 20% “a lot”). It has had a particular impact on the most vulnerable Euro-peans: people with the lowest incomes in each country and the least educated Europeans.

It has, again not surprisingly, particu-larly exacerbated the situation of the Italians (79%, of which 35% “a lot”) and the Spanish (72% of which 29% “a lot”), who have been hit hard by the economic crisis. Furthermore, whilst 37% of Europeans are currently able to put some money into savings at the end of the month, this is the case for only 26% of Spaniards and 29% of Italians. Almost half of the nationals from each of these two countries only just manage to cover their expenses at the end of the month (49% in Spain and 52% in Italy). Worse still, one Spaniard in four (25%) and almost one Italian in five (19%) is living on their savings or with debts, thanks to one or several loans. The crisis has had serious conse-quences for almost half the Spanish

and Italian households: 49% of Span-iards questioned and 41% of Italians say that they or a member of their fam-ily has, at one time since 2008 and as a result of the economic crisis, been unemployed as a result of a redundancy (compared with 28% for all of the countries surveyed); 34% of Spaniards and 36% of Italians say that either they or a member of their household have been very late in the payment of bills, running the risk of no longer benefiting from the corresponding service (com-pared with 25% for the total); 42% of Italians (or a member of their family) have gone without a medical treatment or a surgical operation prescribed by a doctor due to its cost (compared with 21% for the total). Italians (or a mem-ber of their household) have in total encountered 7.1 of the 15 situations resulting from the crisis tested, a little more than the figure for Spaniards (6.6) and much more than the average (5.1).Despite everything, in both Italy and Spain, 11% of those surveyed say that the crisis has had the advantage of mak-ing them discover opportunities which they have been able to take advantage of (more than in the four other coun-tries surveyed).

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The British, and above all the Ger-mans, have been the least nega-tively affected by the crisis: only a minority (48% of the British and 40% of the Germans) believe that it has exacerbated the difficulties that they have encountered. They usually believe that the crisis has had a neutral effect on their daily lives (55% of Germans and 43% of British people think that it has not really changed things), and some even believe that it has had a positive effect (5% of Germans and 9% of British people think that the crisis has enabled them to discover oppor-tunities which they have been able to take advantage of ).It is consistently clear that the Ger-mans and the British are affected by the lowest number of the recession’s consequences (3.2/15 on average for the Germans and 3.8 for the British).The British and the Germans are also amongst those surveyed who are most able to put money aside at the end of the month (46% of British people and 44% of Germans do so compared with just 26% of Spaniards).

The situation of the French and Poles in this regard is intermediate: less severely affected than the Ital-ians and Spanish, they are however more affected than the Germans and British. The majority of Poles also believe that the crisis has exacerbated their difficulties (65% compared with 60% overall). However, fewer Poles

than average believe that the crisis has made things “very much” worse (18% compared with 20%). At the same time fewer of them manage to put some money aside every month (30% compared with 37%) but not so many of them are overdrawn or have to use their savings (18% com-pared with 19% on average).

These results reflect an overall less comfortable financial situation for the Poles (more of them say they have been very late in the payment of bills with the risk of no longer benefiting from the corresponding service–41% compared with 25% overall) compared with other Euro-peans surveyed, but a more limited impact of the crisis in this country.

As for the French, whilst the major-ity of them believe that the crisis has exacerbated the difficulties they were facing (54%), a higher than average number of them manage to put some money aside every month (43%, i.e. almost as many as the Germans or the British). In reality they are no doubt less affected by the crisis than they fear. For example, only 12% of the French say that they or a member of their household (compared with 28% overall) has been unemployed following a redun-dancy as a result of the crisis which has existed since 2008. So based on this indicator the French, whilst they are extremely afraid of unemploy-ment, are in fact the least affected of the six countries surveyed.

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Europeans have also modified their behaviour as a consequence.

The crisis has had a tangible impact on the daily life of the majority of households and over time European households have put in place mecha-nisms to adapt.

The modification of behaviour has had some undeniable beneficial effects (even if this is partly on the basis of declarations of intent): 62% of Europeans say that the crisis has caused them to pay more attention to the impact of their consumption on their environment (71% in France and 75% in Italy); 61% that the cri-sis has encouraged them to be more enterprising, to show more initiative (68% in the United Kingdom and 66% in Poland) and finally 39% that it has forced them to be better insured and protected against life’s accidents (57% in Spain, the only country where this response is in the majority).

These effects are beneficial when considered in terms of the environ-ment and the fight against waste, but some of these behaviours have a perverse effect: they contribute to slowing down the economy by reducing consumption.88% of the Europeans questioned say that the crisis has caused them to waste much less (this is particu-larly the case in the most affected countries: 96% in Italy and 92% in

Spain) and 76% that the crisis has forced them to reduce their con-sumption (95% in Italy and 90% in Spain).Some even show they are tempted by protectionism (or economic pat-riotism): 65% of Europeans believe that the crisis has caused them to pay more attention to the origin of the products they consume (72% in France and 77% in Italy).

The measures put in place by house-holds to deal with the crisis are con-tributing to making it worse: they are both the consequences and the causes.60% of Europeans questioned say that since 2008 and due to the eco-nomic crisis, they or a member of their household have reduced the cost of their mobile telephone package, Internet subscription or telephone/computer purchase ; 58% have stopped going on holiday at least once a year, 57% have changed their eating habits in order to reduce the cost of the shopping bill, 55% have turned the heating down in their homes or reduced the number of days that it is on, 54% have re-organised their daily travel in order to use less fuel and 41% have decided not to buy a new car when they should have bought one. The impact on consumption is clear and affects sectors as varied as telephony, tourism, agri-food, energy and the automotive sector.

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Prospects for the development of consumption over the next few months are very worrying: in the next few months, a majority of Euro-peans are thinking about reducing spending in extremely varied areas (64% furniture expenditure, 64% the purchase of a vehicle, 61% games and toys, 59% household appliances and Hi-fi, 58% wines and spirits, 56% books, CDs and DVDs, 55% tel-ephones, computers and tablets and 55% holidays and leisure). Even in more essential areas, a sig-nificant share of Europeans are antic-ipating a fall in the amounts they spend: 19% for food and 46% for

clothes. These figures are a good illus-tration of the collapse of growth. The Italians and Spanish are those who most anticipate another reduc-tion in their spending, including in the area of food: 26% of Italians and 23% of Spaniards plan to make addi-tional efforts to save in this essential area of spending. After the Italians and the Spanish, the French are those who most plan to reduce their spending over the next few months, a sign of the severity of the crisis in confidence which holds sway in France and handicaps the prospects of an upturn.

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ii. UPtURn StiLL UncERtain: haS EUROPE bROkEn dOwn?

the confidence of Europeans is at a low point and feeds the crisis in confidence.

If the prospects of a development in consumption are so bleak, it is above all because Europeans no longer have any confidence in the future.

They feel that the prospects of an upturn are still a long way off: for 3 Europeans in 4, the crisis in their country will get worse over the next year. The French are particularly con-vinced of this (85%, of which 23% think that it will “get much worse”). In this regard they are the European pessimism champions, although no country is spared. The Germans fear that the European crisis will get the better of them and 73% of them anticipate a deterioration of the cri-sis in their country. The Spanish for their part are the least pessimistic. Already very severely affected, a sig-nificant proportion of them seem to think that things cannot continue to deteriorate: 40% of them think that within a year the crisis in Spain will ease and even end.

Europeans currently feel that they have no real control over their lives: 50% of them think that they only have a small amount of control, and 10% even believe that they don’t have any. The Italians and the Span-

ish are particularly convinced that they no longer have any control over their lives. The only country where the majority, albeit a very small one (51%), believe they currently have the power to manage their lives is Germany.

There is no doubt that this feeling of a loss of control causes a high level of stress about the future. It feeds the fear of a loss in social status (51% of Europeans questioned think that when their children are their age, they will have a lower standard of living), a fear which is particularly strong in France (72% of French people think this). Only the Polish are currently in the relative majority (40%) to believe that the following generation will have a better life. In old Europe, the feeling of an end of a golden age is predominant. Europeans fear the end of their social model. Further-more, the strongest worry of Europe-ans is the fear of a retirement lacking dignity (40% mention it, and even 47% in France, 51% in Germany and 50% in Italy). The fear of losing one’s job is mentioned much less often (19% overall, although 25% in Spain and 24% in Poland where shorter term concerns are highlighted more).

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So in addition to an economic crisis, for the countries of old Europe it is the fear of a deeper calling into ques-tion which is worrying.

In this context, the morale of Europe-ans is, unsurprisingly, low, especially when asked about their compatriots. When they have to describe their com-patriots’ morale using three adjectives, they largely choose negative ones (92% compared with 30% positive adjec-tives). The dominating sentiments are an ambient pessimism (45%), a latent worry (36%) and in equal measures resignation (32%) or anger (32%). It is in France that the climate seems to be the worst: 97% of French people use at least one negative adjective to describe the morale of their compatri-ots, compared with 16% who use at least one positive adjective.

Despite everything, we notice some encouraging signs, in particular in certain European countries: when they consider their own situation, Europeans are much less negative than when they describe the morale

of their compatriots. In this case it is the positive adjectives which dominate (78% compared with 65% negative adjectives), albeit only just, with the exception of certain countries where the difference is clearer, such as Ger-many (87% of positive feelings com-pared with 52% negative) or Poland (82% positive compared with 56% negative). In Spain, despite the severity of the crisis, positive and negative feel-ings are equal (73% of mentions). At the scale of the 6 countries surveyed, the three dominant feelings are opti-mism (30%), caution (29%) and calm (27%).With regard to their personal future paths, the majority of Europeans con-sider them be clear (61%). Only a minority consider their personal future paths to be obstructed (39%, of which just 5% “completely blocked”). Only the French (51%) and the Italians (55%) are in the majority in think-ing that their personal futures are obstructed. The most optimistic in this regard are the Germans (80%), the Poles (78%) and the British (66%).

Europeans no longer believe in the effectiveness of reforms.

Whilst more and more is being asked of them, Europeans are extremely doubtful about the effectiveness of the reforms.

More than half of the Europeans sur-veyed believe that the crisis is leading

to reforms which will have negative repercussions on the economic and social situation of their fellow citizens (58%). The Spanish, who are currently paying a high price for the austerity polices, think this the most (76%), ahead of the French (71%), the Ital-

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ians (66%), the British (60%) and the Germans (54%). Only the Polish are currently in the very large majority in thinking that the crisis is leading to reforms which will make it possible to improve the economic and social situation (71% compared with 22% who think the opposite). They are currently no doubt those who have the least to lose.

In addition, the crisis is considered to be more of an obstacle to reforms than an opportunity to carry out nec-essary changes: only 39% of Europe-ans believe that the crisis will allow us to bounce back by forcing us to carry out the necessary reforms, compared with 47% who think on the contrary that the crisis is preventing us from carrying them out since they run the risk of further aggravating the situa-tion. Only in Germany do the major-

ity (57%) of nationals believe that the crisis represents a good opportunity to carry out necessary reforms, no doubt to a large extent because in their eyes it is a question of the other EU countries carrying out the reforms which will allow the Germans to stop paying for the budgetary sins of the other coun-tries.

Europeans do not believe in a benefi-cial effect of the crisis. A majority of them believe that their country will come out of it weaker (66%, of which 27% believe that it will be “markedly weaker”). The Spanish (76%), Italians (73%) and French (74%) think this the most, but this feeling also affects the Poles (59%), the British (59%) and the Germans (56%). Europeans seem to be convinced that they are stuck on a downward trajectory.

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iii. thOSE invOLvEd in thE way OUt Of thE cRiSiS: gOvERnMEntS, cOMPaniES OR citizEnS?

bankruptcy caused by those in public life.

In the eyes of Europeans, institu-tional figures are more responsible for the bankruptcy of the system than likely to enable the way out of the crisis.

Only a minority (29%) of Europeans believe that their governments are proposing constructive solutions in the face of the crisis. The solutions proposed by the German (45%) and British (40%) governments are slightly better perceived, without however arousing enthusiasm.The opposi t ion (24%), unions (27%) or even the European authori-ties (29%) are not looked on more favourably. Furthermore, only a small majority of Europeans (52%) believe that the fact that their country belongs to the EU is overall more of an advantage. In the eyes of the Ger-mans (57%), the British (63%) and the Italians (53%), it is even, overall, more of a handicap.There is a deep mistrust of the author-ities: Europeans feel that at the very least they are responsible for having, through their laxness, let the crisis take hold, and that they are incapable of offering solutions, and that they even aggravate the situation.

According to the Europeans ques-tioned, the most important prob-lem which needs to be resolved in order to find a way out of the crisis is above all excessive fiscal pressure (35% believe the excessive level of taxes to be the first problem to solve), ahead of the selfishness of rich people (27%) or industrial companies which are closing (25%). A particularly large proportion of Italians (54%) lament this excessive fiscal pressure, even more than the Spanish (38%).

The very large majority of Europe-ans do not think that the extent of public spending cuts implemented by the i r gove rnment s a re b ig enough either. More often than not, they believe that their governments are not making enough effort in this area (57%). The French (77%) and the Italians (81%) are particularly persuaded of this. Almost one third of Europeans for their part believe that their governments are reducing public spending too much (30%). This is above all the case of the Span-ish (55%) and British (50%). Finally, only 13% of Europeans believe that their governments are reducing pub-lic spending “as they should be”.

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The majority of Europeans, con-vinced of the impotence of those in public life, even believe that it is necessary for private companies to take over public services which up until now were only provided by the State or by public authori-ties (57%, although only 21% of

them believe this to be desirable). The French, despite the fact that they have long been extremely attached to the principle of public service, are amongst those who most consider this change to be necessary (62%).

Recovery through European companies?

In the face of the inability of pub-lic bodies to help find a way out of the crisis, companies, and especially SMEs, look like being those most capable of finding solutions (45% of Europeans believe that they offer constructive solutions to the crisis, which is the best score amongst the various groups tested). Confidence in the solutions proposed by SMEs is particularly strong in France (53%), Germany (58%) and Poland (62%). At the heart of the economic fabric, SMEs are the preferred players of the economic upturn.There is slightly less confidence in the solutions proposed by large compa-nies (38%). Less valued in the current political and media rhetoric, they are also more often suspected of collud-ing with public authorities and the financial system, and associated with large-scale redundancy plans.

The difference in the confidence in SMEs and large companies is particu-larly strong in France (27 points) and to a lesser extent in Spain (18 points). This difference is much smaller in a

country such as Germany (8 points), where large companies are much more valued (50%). SMEs in the United Kingdom and Italy for their part are less valued than large companies.

Europeans are confident in the strengths of their companies and seem to believe that the main handi-caps of the latter are above all the result of action by public authorities. When questioned on their companies, Europeans appear to be confident in their numerous strengths: the qual-ity of products and services (74%), research and technical innovation (67%), inventiveness and innovation in the area of products and services (67%), the capacity to export, includ-ing to outside Europe (66%) and the quality of professional training (61%) are the strengths most often put for-ward.Elements which are more dependent on government however are thought of as handicaps for companies: the level of taxes on profits and other taxes on companies (68%), the relationship between wage levels and the cost of

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living (63%) or employees’ level at foreign languages (62%), resulting from a deficient languages education, are in their eyes the three main weak points of European companies, as if the main weakness of companies were the State.

This return to grace for the figure of the entrepreneur is not, however, unconditional. For companies to be worthy of their trust, Europeans expect them to respect a certain social contract, in particular with regard to the preservation of jobs. This is

the priority that they assign to the large companies of their countries during a period of economic crisis (37% mention this as the first prior-ity), well ahead of the other objectives envisaged, including the fall in their prices (19% mentioned first). This is even more the case in Germany (52% of Germans mention the preserva-tion of employment as the first prior-ity) where it is the non-negotiable condition for concessions granted by employees in the area of flexibility.

citizens and consumers try to take back control.

Aware of the severity of the crisis, Europeans are prepared to agree to new efforts, so long as these do not affect their purchasing power. The majority of Europeans are pre-pared to train to change profes-sions (70%), to accept that social services take more account of their level of income (67% and even 75% in France), to save more for their retirement and to cover the risks of dependency (66%) and even to give up 3 to 4 days of holiday over the year (52% of working people; 51% of French working people). Such accept-ance levels for such unpopular meas-ures are an indicator of how aware Europeans are of the seriousness of the crisis. This does not however mean that if they were put in place, they would not cause major protest movements.

Retiring one or two years later does not however get majority approval (41% of Europeans working are pre-pared to accept it), except in France (52%) and in the United Kingdom (58%). Almost one working Euro-pean in four say they are prepared to move more often to change position or job (24%).

Finally, the measures which impact on purchasing power are the most disputed: only 15% of Europeans would accept a 10% fall in their income (although 23% of Spaniards) and 13% a 10% increase in their taxes (the British are the least resistant to this idea with 17% in favour, ahead of the Spanish, with 15%).

For European citizens and consumers, taking back control of their lives also

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no doubt involves adopting new con-sumption behaviours. Whilst the fight against waste and over-consumption is participating in the slow-down of con-sumption, it is also a remedy for the fall or stagnation of purchasing power. It is in this sense that the crisis could create new beneficial consumption trends.

The development of purchases or exchanges between private individu-als is an obvious example of this. For a long time confined to a few areas, it is now spreading to a very wide range of products: books, CDs and DVDs are already bought or exchanged amongst private individuals by 26% of Euro-peans and 30% are now prepared to do so; this also applies to games and toys (18% do so and 28% would like

to), the purchase of a vehicle (18% and 27%), clothes (20% and 22%), furniture (14% and 28%), telephones/computers/tablets (12% and 28%), electrical appliances / Hi-fi (11% and 26%), holidays and leisure (8% and 26%) and more rarely care/cosmetics products (7% and 16%) and wines and spirits (6% and 17%).

Whilst these behavioural changes, caused by the collapse of growth, may have a negative impact on the short-term prospects of an upturn, they may also constitute the opportunity for a more sustainable growth, so long as we can capitalise on the sum of optimistic individuals rather than be affected by the collective ambient gloom.

24

dEtaiRESU LEd

LtS

LEd LtS

25

i SOciaL cLiMatE and ExPEctatiOnS

26

which three adjectives best describe your current state of mind? +and which three adjectives best describe the state of mind which seems most widespread among your fellow citizens? To all

i - SOciaL cLiMatE and ExPEctatiOnS

30% 27% 26%

21% 13% 13% 13% 12%

8% 78%

29% 22%

14% 12% 10% 8% 8%

5% 4%

65%

7% 6% 8%

6% 5% 4%

8% 6%

3% 30%

24% 36%

45% 32% 32%

14% 11%

19% 18%

92% Total > 100: three answers possible

For yourself For your fellow ci9zens

Op9mis9c Calm

Determined Confident

Brave Enterprising

Socially responsible Ambi9ous Inven9ve

S/T Posi9ve

Cau9ous Worried

Pessimis9c Resigned

Angry Individualis9c Conserva9ve

Passive Desperate

S/T Nega9ve

30% 27% 26%

21% 13% 13% 13% 12%

8% 78%

29% 22%

14% 12% 10% 8% 8%

5% 4%

65%

7% 6% 8%

6% 5% 4%

8% 6%

3% 30%

24% 36%

45% 32% 32%

14% 11%

19% 18%


For yourself For your fellow ci9zens

Op9mis9c Calm

Determined Confident

Brave Enterprising

Socially responsible Ambi9ous Inven9ve

S/T Posi9ve

Cau9ous Worried

Pessimis9c Resigned

Angry Individualis9c Conserva9ve

Passive Desperate

S/T Nega9ve

thE 3 adjEctivES that bESt dEScRibE yOUR cURREnt StatE Of Mind

27

thE 3 adjEctivES that bESt dEScRibE yOUR cURREnt StatE Of Mind

78%

78%

87%

73%

79%

70%

82%

65%

70%

52%

73%

67%

71%

56%

All countries

France

Germany

Spain

Great Britain

Italy

Poland

S/T PosiDve S/t NegaDve

30%

16%

38%

25%

32%

27%

45%

92%

97%

91%

94%

89%

91%

88%

All countries

France

Germany

Spain

Great Britain

Italy

Poland


For yourself For your fellow ciDzens

78%

78%

87%

73%

79%

70%

82%

65%

70%

52%

73%

67%

71%

56%

All countries

France

Germany

Spain

Great Britain

Italy

Poland


30%

16%

38%

25%

32%

27%

45%

92%

97%

91%

94%

89%

91%

88%

All countries

France

Germany

Spain

Great Britain

Italy

Poland


For yourself For your fellow ciDzens

which statement best describes your current situation? To all

28


3%

34%

37%

44%

10%

9%

You manage to save a lot of money

You manage to save a li8le money

S/t You manage to save money

Your income is just sufficient to make ends meet

You are cu?ng a bit into your savings

You are overdrawn and living thanks to one or more loans

37%

43%

44%

26%

46%

29%

30%

S/T You manage to save money %

All countries

LES 3 adjEctifS qUi cORRESPOndEnt à L’état d’ESPRit actUELyOUR cURREnt financiaL SitUatiOn

which statement best describes your current situation? To all

LES 3 adjEctifS qUi cORRESPOndEnt à L’état d’ESPRit actUEL

29

yOUR cURREnt financiaL SitUatiOn

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

You manage to save a lot of money 3 2 4 1 6 2 1

You manage to save a li9le money 34 41 40 25 40 27 29

S/T You manage to save money 37 43 44 26 46 29 30

Your income is just sufficient to make ends meet 44 38 39 49 34 52 52

You are cuCng a bit into your savings 10 11 8 12 13 13 8

You are overdrawn and living thanks to one or more loans 9 8 9 13 7 6 10

S/t You live on your savings or loans 19 19 17 25 20 19 18

have you or someone in your household, at any given time since 2008 and due to the economic crisis...? To all


30

60

58

57

55

54

41

35

40

42

43

45

46

59

65

Yes, yourself or someone in your household No

Reduced the cost of your mobile phone contract, internet subscripBon or purchase of a new telephone or computer

Decided not to go on holiday at least once a year

Changed your cooking or eaBng habits to cut your grocery costs

Reduced the temperature or the number of days during which the heaBng is switched on in your home

Reorganized your daily travel to use less fuel

Decided not to buy a new car at the Bme you should have done so

Given or lent money to your children or grandchildren in order to help them manage

60

58

57

55

54

41

35

40

42

43

45

46

59

65









60

58

57

55

54

41

35

40

42

43

45

46

59

65









iMPact Of thE EcOnOMic cRiSiS

60

58

57

55

54

41

35

40

42

43

45

46

59

65











31

Discon'nued your job search for several months or years since you could not find any suitable offers

Been unemployed a;er being made redundant (on economic grounds)

Fallen into considerable arrears with the payment of invoices, at the risk of no longer enjoying the service in

ques'on

Given up on the house or flat you wanted to buy

Decided not to receive medical treatment or a surgical opera'on prescribed by a doctor due to the expense

Had to move house because you could no longer pay off your loan or the rent

Been forced to abandon your higher educa'on due to the registra'on or tui'on fees only

Accommodate someone you know who lost his/her home

28

28

25

22

21

10

10

10

72

72

75

77

79

90

90

90

1

Yes, yourself or someone in your household No Don't know


Been unemployed a;er being made redundant (on economic grounds)

Fallen into considerable arrears with the payment of invoices, at the risk of no longer enjoying the service in

ques'on

Given up on the house or flat you wanted to buy


Had to move house because you could no longer pay off your loan or the rent


Accommodate someone you know who lost his/her home

28

28

25

22

21

10

10

10

72

72

75

77

79

90

90

90

1

Yes, yourself or someone in your household No Don't know

32



All countries n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Reduced the cost of your mobile phone contract, internet subscrip6on or purchase of a new telephone or computer

60 62 34 75 45 74 68

Decided not to go on holiday at least once a year 58 52 46 72 41 76 59

Changed your cooking or ea6ng habits to cut your grocery costs 57 58 32 66 56 75 56

Reduced the temperature or the number of days during which the hea6ng is switched on in your home

55 54 33 69 58 68 46

Reorganized your daily travel to use less fuel 54 58 35 68 44 73 47

Decided not to buy a new car at the 6me you should have done so 41 38 28 49 21 62 47

Given or lent money to your children or grandchildren in order to help them manage 35 31 24 35 33 41 47

S/T Yes, yourself or someone in your houseold


33



All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056


28 12 15 49 17 41 29

Been unemployed a;er being made redundant (on economic grounds) 28 12 15 49 17 41 30

Fallen into considerable arrears with the payment of invoices, at the risk of no longer enjoying the service in ques'on

25 12 17 34 10 36 41

Given up on the house or flat you wanted to buy 22 19 14 28 7 35 30


21 19 15 19 8 42 23

Had to move house because you could no longer pay off your loan or the rent 10 7 5 16 5 16 12


10 6 5 14 6 14 16

Accommodate someone you know who lost his/her home 10 10 5 15 7 14 11



Reduced the cost of your mobile phone contract, internet subscrip6on or purchase of a new telephone or computer

60 62 34 75 45 74 68

Decided not to go on holiday at least once a year 58 52 46 72 41 76 59

Changed your cooking or ea6ng habits to cut your grocery costs 57 58 32 66 56 75 56

Reduced the temperature or the number of days during which the hea6ng is switched on in your home

55 54 33 69 58 68 46

Reorganized your daily travel to use less fuel 54 58 35 68 44 73 47

Decided not to buy a new car at the 6me you should have done so 41 38 28 49 21 62 47

Given or lent money to your children or grandchildren in order to help them manage 35 31 24 35 33 41 47


34




34

10%

47%

35%

8%

All countries

0 situa6on encountered 1 to 5 situa6ons encountered 6 to 10 situa6ons encountered 11 to 15 situa6ons encountered

Situa6ons encountered on average (yourself or someone in your houseold)

5.1

4.5

3.2

6.6

3.8

7.1

5.6

All countries:

90% of the households have encountered at least one of the situa1ons listed which are

consequences of the crisis

8%

32%

40%

20%

All countries

It helped me discover opportuni9es from which I have benefited It did not really change anything; my situa9on is almost the same as before It made the difficul9es I was experiencing a bit worse It made the difficul9es I was experiencing a lot worse

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

It helped me discover opportuni9es from which

I have benefited 8 8 5 11 9 11 7

It did not really change anything; my situa9on is

almost the same as before 32 38 55 17 43 10 28

It made the difficul9es I was experiencing a bit

worse 40 40 29 43 33 44 47

It made the difficul9es I was experiencing a lot

worse 20 14 11 29 15 35 18

S/T It made the difficul9es worse 60 54 40 72 48 79 65

10%

47%

35%

8%

All countries

0 situa6on encountered 1 to 5 situa6ons encountered 6 to 10 situa6ons encountered 11 to 15 situa6ons encountered

Situa6ons encountered on average (yourself or someone in your houseold)

5.1

4.5

3.2

6.6

3.8

7.1

5.6

All countries:

90% of the households have encountered at least one of the situa1ons listed which are

consequences of the crisis

35

when thinking of the economic crisis which started in 2008, how would you assess its consequences on your everyday life? To all

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

35

cOnSEqUEncES On EvERyday LifE

8%

32%

40%

20%

All countries


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056






worse 40 40 29 43 33 44 47


worse 20 14 11 29 15 35 18


8%

32%

40%

20%

All countries


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056






worse 40 40 29 43 33 44 47


worse 20 14 11 29 15 35 18


do you strongly agree, tend to agree, tend to disagree or strongly disagree with each of the following statements? To all


36

45

38

26

20

18

11

43

38

39

42

43

28

8

19

26

28

29

41

4

5

9

10

10

20

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree

The crisis prompts me to be less wasteful

The crisis forces me to reduce my consumpAon

The crisis prompts me to pay more aBenAon to the origin of the products which I consume

The crisis prompts me to pay more aBenAon to the environmental impact of my consumpAon

The crisis prompts me to be more enterprising and to take more iniAaAve

The crisis forces me to get beBer insurance and to beBer protect myself against the risk of personal accidents

88

76

65

62

61

39

S/T Agree

%

12

24

35

38

39

61

S/T Not agree

%

iMPact Of thE cRiSiS On bEhaviOURS

do you strongly agree, tend to agree, tend to disagree or strongly disagree with each of the following statements? To all

iMPact Of thE cRiSiS On bEhaviOURS

37


The crisis prompts me to be less wasteful 88 91 79 92 89 96 81

The crisis forces me to reduce my consump=on 76 80 55 90 72 95 63

The crisis prompts me to pay more aAen=on to the origin of the products which I

consume 65 72 56 67 51 77 68

The crisis prompts me to pay more aAen=on to the environmental impact of my

consump=on 62 71 64 57 50 75 55

The crisis prompts me to be more enterprising and to take more ini=a=ve 61 55 60 59 68 61 66

The crisis forces me to get beAer insurance and to beAer protect myself against the risk

of personal accidents 39 46 30 57 23 37 39

Average number of posi=ve consequences 3.9 4.2 3.4 4.2 3.5 4.4 3.7

S/T Agree

38


Some people think they are in control of the way their life unfolds. Others think they have little real power over what happens to them. currently, would you say that...? To all

cOntROL OvER thE way LifE UnfOLdS

38

40%

50%

10%

All countries

You are in control of the way your life unfolds You have li:le real power over what happens to you You have no real power over what happens to you

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

You are in control of the way your life

unfolds 40 40 51 33 45 30 39

You have li:le real power over what happens to you

50 52 43 50 48 57 52

You have no real power over what happens to you

10 8 6 17 7 13 9

40%

50%

10%

All countries

You are in control of the way your life unfolds You have li:le real power over what happens to you You have no real power over what happens to you

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

You are in control of the way your life

unfolds 40 40 51 33 45 30 39

You have li:le real power over what happens to you

50 52 43 50 48 57 52

You have no real power over what happens to you

10 8 6 17 7 13 9

39

when you think of your future, you would say that it is... To all

PERcEPtiOn Of yOUR PERSOnaL fUtURE

39

15%

46%

34%

5%

All countries

Completely open Slightly open Slightly blocked Completely blocked

All

countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Completely open 15 5 19 10 21 6 30

Slightly open 46 44 61 41 45 39 48

S/t Open 61 49 80 51 66 45 78

Slightly blocked 34 46 17 44 27 47 19

Completely blocked 5 5 3 5 7 8 3

S/t Blocked 39 51 20 49 34 55 22

S/t Open 61%

S/t Blocked 39%

15%

46%

34%

5%

All countries

Completely open Slightly open Slightly blocked Completely blocked

All

countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Completely open 15 5 19 10 21 6 30

Slightly open 46 44 61 41 45 39 48

S/t Open 61 49 80 51 66 45 78

Slightly blocked 34 46 17 44 27 47 19

Completely blocked 5 5 3 5 7 8 3

S/t Blocked 39 51 20 49 34 55 22

S/t Open 61%

S/t Blocked 39%

when you think of the future, what are you personally most afraid of? To all


40

40%

24%

21%

19%

14%

12%

10%

10%

7%

7%

1%

No longer being able to age in dignified condi7ons

No longer being able to pay your bills

No longer being able to receive proper health treatment

Losing your job

That your children will be forced to abandon their higher educa7on

Losing your home

Not being able to pay off your loans

No longer having the means to eat as you do today

No longer being able to go on holiday

Having to limit your travel

Don’t know / No answer

Total > 100: two answers possible

StROngESt cOncERnS fOR yOUR PERSOnaL fUtURE

40%

24%

21%

19%

14%

12%

10%

10%

7%

7%

1%

No longer being able to age in dignified condi7ons

No longer being able to pay your bills

No longer being able to receive proper health treatment

Losing your job

That your children will be forced to abandon their higher educa7on

Losing your home

Not being able to pay off your loans

No longer having the means to eat as you do today

No longer being able to go on holiday

Having to limit your travel


when you think of the future, what are you personally most afraid of? To all

StROngESt cOncERnS fOR yOUR PERSOnaL fUtURE

41

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

No longer being able to age in dignified condi3ons 40 47 51 28 31 50 36

No longer being able to pay your bills 24 18 20 26 31 14 31 No longer being able to receive proper health

treatment 21 25 28 8 17 23 28

Losing your job 19 17 13 25 18 18 24 That your children will be forced to abandon

their higher educa3on 14 14 7 24 6 28 6

Losing your home 12 11 7 25 14 8 9

Not being able to pay off your loans 10 11 9 13 7 7 16 No longer having the means to eat as you do

today 10 9 11 13 7 13 5

No longer being able to go on holiday 7 7 8 4 10 4 8

Having to limit your travel 7 8 9 3 10 6 8

Don’t know / No answer 1 1 1 -‐ 1 -‐ -‐


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

No longer being able to age in dignified condi3ons 40 47 51 28 31 50 36

No longer being able to pay your bills 24 18 20 26 31 14 31 No longer being able to receive proper health

treatment 21 25 28 8 17 23 28

Losing your job 19 17 13 25 18 18 24 That your children will be forced to abandon

their higher educa3on 14 14 7 24 6 28 6

Losing your home 12 11 7 25 14 8 9

Not being able to pay off your loans 10 11 9 13 7 7 16 No longer having the means to eat as you do

today 10 9 11 13 7 13 5

No longer being able to go on holiday 7 7 8 4 10 4 8

Having to limit your travel 7 8 9 3 10 6 8

Don’t know / No answer 1 1 1 -‐ 1 -‐ -‐


42


when your children are your age, you think they will live...? To all

tRUSt in thE fUtURE Of yOUR chiLdREn

42

27%

51%

21% 1%

All countries

Be3er than you at your age Not as well as you at your age Just as well as you at your age Don't know / No answer

All

countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Be3er than you at your age 27 11 20 32 29 30 40

Not as well as you at your age 51 72 53 50 45 58 31

Just as well as you at your age 21 17 27 18 25 12 29

Don't know / No answer 1 -‐ -‐ -‐ 1 -‐ -‐

27%

51%

21% 1%

All countries

Be3er than you at your age Not as well as you at your age Just as well as you at your age Don't know / No answer

All

countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Be3er than you at your age 27 11 20 32 29 30 40

Not as well as you at your age 51 72 53 50 45 58 31

Just as well as you at your age 21 17 27 18 25 12 29

Don't know / No answer 1 -‐ -‐ -‐ 1 -‐ -‐

43

in the coming year, would you say that the crisis in your country will...? To all

EvOLUtiOn Of thE cRiSiS in thE cOMing yEaR

43

20%

55%

23% 2%

All countries

Get much worse Get slightly worse Get slightly be9er Will almost or completely end

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Get much worse 20 23 9 13 25 26 22

Get slightly worse 55 62 64 47 53 52 54

S/t Get worse 75 85 73 60 78 78 76

Get slightly be9er 23 15 23 37 22 21 18

Will almost or completely end 2 -‐ 4 3 -‐ 1 6

S/T Get slightly be9er or completely end 25 15 27 40 22 22 24

S/t Get worse 75%

S/t Get slightly be9er or

completely end 25%

20%

55%

23% 2%

All countries


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Get much worse 20 23 9 13 25 26 22


S/t Get worse 75 85 73 60 78 78 76




S/t Get worse 75%


completely end 25% 20%

55%

23% 2%

All countries


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Get much worse 20 23 9 13 25 26 22


S/t Get worse 75 85 73 60 78 78 76




S/t Get worse 75%


completely end 25%

20%

55%

23% 2%

All countries


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Get much worse 20 23 9 13 25 26 22


S/t Get worse 75 85 73 60 78 78 76




S/t Get worse 75%


completely end 25%

44


which of the following statements is closer to your opinion? To all

thE cRiSiS: OPPORtUnity OR ObStacLE tO nEcESSaRy REfORMS?

44

39

33

57

34

32

36

42

47

52

35

49

53

51

40

14

15

8

17

15

13

18

The crisis enables us to get back on our feet by forcing us to make the necessary reforms

The crisis prevents us from making the necessary reforms, since they could worsen the situaDon of ciDzens of your country

Don't know / No answer

58

71

54

76

60

66

22

34

23

38

18

28

25

71

8

6

8

6

12

9

7

The crisis generates reforms that will have a nega=ve impact on the economic and social situa=on of ci=zens of your country

The crisis generates reforms that will help improve the economic and social situa=on of ci=zens of your country


39

33

57

34

32

36

42

47

52

35

49

53

51

40

14

15

8

17

15

13

18

The crisis enables us to get back on our feet by forcing us to make the necessary reforms

The crisis prevents us from making the necessary reforms, since they could worsen the situaDon of ciDzens of your country


All countries

France

Germany

Spain

Great Britain

Italy

Poland

45

which of the following statements is closer to your opinion? To all

iMPact Of thE REfORMS gEnERatEd by thE cRiSiS

45

58

71

54

76

60

66

22

34

23

38

18

28

25

71

8

6

8

6

12

9

7




58

71

54

76

60

66

22

34

23

38

18

28

25

71

8

6

8

6

12

9

7




All countries

France

Germany

Spain

Great Britain

Italy

Poland

46


considering your country’s economic situation prior to the crisis, do you think it will emerge from the crisis...? To all

iMPact Of thE cRiSiS On thE EcOnOMic StREngth Of yOUR cOUntRy

6%

28%

39%

27%

All countries

Much stronger A li7le stronger A li7le less stronger Much less stronger

All

countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Much stronger 6 3 5 4 6 5 10 A li7le stronger 28 23 39 20 35 22 31

S/t Stronger 34 26 44 24 41 27 41 A li7le less stronger 39 45 39 35 38 41 36 Much less stronger 27 29 17 41 21 32 23

S/t Less stronger 66 74 56 76 59 73 59

S/t Stronger

34%

S/t Less stronger

66% 6%

28%

39%

27%

All countries

Much stronger A li7le stronger A li7le less stronger Much less stronger

All

countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Much stronger 6 3 5 4 6 5 10 A li7le stronger 28 23 39 20 35 22 31

S/t Stronger 34 26 44 24 41 27 41 A li7le less stronger 39 45 39 35 38 41 36 Much less stronger 27 29 17 41 21 32 23

S/t Less stronger 66 74 56 76 59 73 59

S/t Stronger

34%

S/t Less stronger

66%

47

ii StakEhOLdERS and thEiR StatE Of Mind

for each of the following players, would you say that they offer constructive solutions in the face of the economic crisis? To all

ii - StakEhOLdERS and thEiR StatE Of Mind

48

11

7

5

6

5

5

34

31

24

23

22

19

37

40

41

35

40

42

17

22

29

36

32

33

1

1

1

1

Yes, absolutely Yes, somewhat No, not really No, not at all Don't know / No answer

SMEs

Big companies

European insHtuHons

The government

Trade unions

The opposiHon

45

38

29

29

27

24

54

62

70

71

72

75

S/T No %

S/T Yes %

cOnStRUctivEnESS Of SOLUtiOnS PROPOSEd by a SERiES Of StakEhOLdERS

for each of the following players, would you say that they offer constructive solutions in the face of the economic crisis? To all

cOnStRUctivEnESS Of SOLUtiOnS PROPOSEd by a SERiES Of StakEhOLdERS

49


SMEs 45 53 58 46 26 24 62

Big companies 38 26 50 28 40 34 48

European ins<tu<ons 29 20 36 26 19 25 52

The government 29 21 45 19 40 15 31

Trade unions 27 20 40 18 25 22 37

The opposi<on 24 25 37 16 26 20 24

S/T Yes

50

ii - StakEhOLdERS and thEiR StatE Of Mind

do you think your country’s government is reducing public expenditure too much, not enough or just as required? To all

OPiniOn On thE REdUctiOn Of PUbLic ExPEnditURE by yOUR gOvERnMEnt

50

30%

57%

13%

All countries

Too much Not enough Just as required

All

countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Too much 30 12 22 55 50 13 29

Not enough 57 77 56 37 28 81 62

Just as required 13 11 22 8 22 6 9


SMEs 45 53 58 46 26 24 62

Big companies 38 26 50 28 40 34 48

European ins<tu<ons 29 20 36 26 19 25 52

The government 29 21 45 19 40 15 31

Trade unions 27 20 40 18 25 22 37

The opposi<on 24 25 37 16 26 20 24

S/T Yes

30%

57%

13%

All countries

Too much Not enough Just as required

All

countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Too much 30 12 22 55 50 13 29

Not enough 57 77 56 37 28 81 62

Just as required 13 11 22 8 22 6 9

51

iii StREngthS and wEaknESSES

among the following problems, which three need to be solved as a priority in your country in order to end the crisis as quickly as possible? To all

iii - StREngthS and wEaknESSES

52

The high level of taxes

The selfishness of the rich

Manufacturing companies which are closing

The level of immigra8on

Excessive compensa8on requirements of shareholders and CEOs

The unsuitability of the educa8onal system to the world of employment

The exodus of talent and young people

The excessive opening of borders to foreign products

The lack of growth prospects for people in society

Corpora8sm, special interest groups

35%

27%

25%

24%

23%

16%

15%

14%

14%

13%

PRObLEMS tO SOLvE in PRiORity in ORdER tO End thE cRiSiS

The high level of taxes

The selfishness of the rich

Manufacturing companies which are closing

The level of immigra8on

Excessive compensa8on requirements of shareholders and CEOs

The unsuitability of the educa8onal system to the world of employment

The exodus of talent and young people

The excessive opening of borders to foreign products

The lack of growth prospects for people in society

Corpora8sm, special interest groups

35%

27%

25%

24%

23%

16%

15%

14%

14%

13%



53

Total > 100: three answers possible

Lack of dialogue between social partners (employees, employers, State, etc.)

The non-‐renewal of the poli8cal elite and leaders

Overly restric8ve recruitment and dismissal rules

Lack of public-‐spirit

The inadequate financing of social protec8on

Lack of confidence in scien8fic research and innova8on

Low birth rate (low number of births)

Fear of change

The state of mind of the media

Defea8sm and the fear of decline

12%

12%

11%

10%

10%

8%

7%

6%

6%

4%









Fear of change



12%

12%

11%

10%

10%

8%

7%

6%

6%









Fear of change



12%

12%

11%

10%

10%

8%

7%

6%

6%

4%

54





Top 3

1. Excessive compensa2on requirements of shareholders

and CEOs (35%)

2. The high level of taxes (32%)

3. The selfishness of the rich (32%)

Top 3



3. Manufacturing companies which are closing (23%) and the exodus of talent and young

people(23%)

Top 3

1. Excessive compensa2on requirements of shareholders

and CEOs (37%)

2. The level of immigra2on (30%)

3. Manufacturing companies which are closing

(27%)

France

Spain

Germany

55




Top 3

1. The high level of taxes (54%)

2. Manufacturingcompanies which are closing

(34%)


Top 3


2. The selfishness of the rich

(33%)

3. Manufacturing companies which are closing (23%) and the

exodus of talent and young people(23%)

Top 3

1. The level of immigraDon (55%)

2. Manufacturing companies

which are closing (32%)

3. The selfishness of the rich

(32%)

Gre

at B

ritai

n

Pola

nd

Italy

56



All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

The high level of taxes 35 26 32 38 20 54 37

The selfishness of the rich 27 20 32 33 32 23 21

Manufacturing companies which are closing 25 27 11 23 32 34 23

The level of immigra8on 24 30 21 20 55 14 6

Excessive compensa8on requirements of shareholders and CEOs 23 37 35 13 28 17 9

The unsuitability of the educa8onal system to the world of employment 16 18 23 16 12 9 20

The exodus of talent and young people 15 10 14 23 5 19 20

The excessive opening of borders to foreign products 14 24 7 12 20 11 8

The lack of growth prospects for people in society 14 8 10 10 22 10 23

Corpora8sm, special interest groups 13 12 23 10 5 14 12


57



All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Lack of dialogue between social partners (employees, employers, State, etc.) 12 10 15 13 5 10 19

The non-‐renewal of the poli?cal elite and leaders 12 7 4 22 5 10 25

Overly restric?ve recruitment and dismissal rules 11 13 6 17 4 17 11

Lack of public-‐spirit 10 11 10 5 10 12 10

The inadequate financing of social protec?on 10 11 11 9 8 8 12

Lack of confidence in scien?fic research and innova?on 8 7 5 14 5 11 4

Low birth rate (low number of births) 7 1 16 3 1 3 16

Fear of change 6 8 5 5 4 6 5

The state of mind of the media 6 8 5 2 9 2 7

Defea?sm and the fear of decline 4 4 3 4 7 3 4

Don’t know / No answer -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ 1 -‐ -‐

58


for your country, do you think that belonging to the European Union is on the whole…? To all

bELOnging tO thE EU, aSSEt OR diSadvantagE?

58

21%

36%

43%

All countries

It is necessary and desirable It is necessary, although I do not want it It is neither necessary, nor desirable

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

It is necessary and desirable 21 23 19 15 15 25 29

It is necessary, although I do not want it 36 39 40 30 38 36 33

S/t It is necessary 57 62 59 45 53 61 62 It is neither necessary, nor

desirable 43 38 41 55 47 39 38

S/t It is

necessary 57%

52% 48%

All countries

An asset A disadvantage

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

An asset 52 55 42 59 36 47 70

A disadvantage 48 45 57 41 63 53 30

Don’t know -‐ -‐ 1 -‐ 1 -‐ -‐ 52% 48%

All countries

An asset A disadvantage

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

An asset 52 55 42 59 36 47 70

A disadvantage 48 45 57 41 63 53 30

Don’t know -‐ -‐ 1 -‐ 1 -‐ -‐

59

what do you think of the fact that private companies are taking responsibility for public services that only the State or public authorities provided until present? To all

OPiniOn On thE fact PRivatE cOMPaniES aRE taking RESPOnSabiLity fOR PUbLic SERvicES

59

21%

36%

43%

All countries


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056




desirable 43 38 41 55 47 39 38

S/t It is

necessary 57%

21%

36%

43%

All countries


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056




desirable 43 38 41 55 47 39 38

S/t It is

necessary 57%

what are your main expectations for the major companies in your country during this time of economic crisis? To all


60

37%

19%

10%

8%

7%

6%

4%

4%

3%

2%

Firstly That they endeavour to safeguard the jobs of their

employees

That they lower their prices (by reducing their margins)

That they supply to small and medium local enterprises as a priority

That they offer more economical product formats, which are less wasteful

That they are more transparent about the origin and more rigorous about the traceability of their products

That they are more transparent about their margins and the cost of the products they sell

That they favour small or local shops to sell their products

That they offer beFer rewards for customer loyalty

That they offer more tailored or customised (adjustable) products to consumers


76%

64%

57%

60%

50%

51%

37%

40%

38%

1%

Total answers

Total > 100: several answers possible

ExPEctatiOnS fOR thE MajOR cOMPaniES in tiME Of cRiSiS



61


That they endeavour to safeguard the jobs of their employees 37 36 52 42 25 38 31

That they lower their prices (by reducing their margins) 19 20 10 20 24 19 21

That they supply to small and medium local enterprises as a priority 10 14 8 10 4 12 11

That they offer more economical product formats,which are less wasteful 8 6 8 8 9 9 8

That they are more transparent about the origin and more rigorous about the

traceability of their products 7 9 7 4 10 7 8

That they are more transparent about their margins and the cost of the products they

sell 6 7 4 7 8 5 6

That they favour small or local shops to sell their products 4 3 3 3 6 2 4

That they offer beFer rewards for customer loyalty 4 2 3 2 7 4 5

That they offer more tailored or customised (adjustable) products to consumers 3 2 4 3 4 3 3

Don’t know / No answer 2 1 1 1 3 1 3

Firstly

62




62


That they endeavour to safeguard the jobs of their employees 76 78 83 80 70 77 68

That they lower their prices (by reducing their margins) 64 65 52 70 66 65 68

That they offer more economical product formats, which are less wasteful 60 56 64 61 61 61 56

That they supply to small and medium local enterprises as a priority 57 69 61 59 42 59 52

That they are more transparent about their margins and the cost of the products they

sell 51 55 49 53 57 48 46

That they are more transparent about the origin and more rigorous about the

traceability of their products 50 57 50 39 54 49 52

That they offer beFer rewards for customer loyalty 40 34 39 38 47 36 46

That they offer more tailored or customised (adjustable) products to consumers 38 27 40 41 35 36 47

That they favour small or local shops to sell their products 37 35 41 33 43 37 35

Don’t know / No answer 1 1 -‐ -‐ 2 -‐ 1

Total answers

Total > 100: several answers possible

63

Regarding each of the following aspects, are they areas in which your country’s companies tend to have strengths or shortcomings to overcome the crisis? To all

StREngthS and ShORtcOMingS Of yOUR cOUntRy’S cOMPaniES tO OvERcOME thE cRiSiS

63

74

67

67

66

61

54

53

46

24

31

30

32

37

44

45

52

2

2

3

2

2

2

2

2

Strengths for the most part Shortcomings for the most part Don't know / No answer

Quality of products and services

Technical innovaFon and research

InvenFveness and innovaFon in terms of products and services

Ability to export, including outside of Europe

Quality of the professional training

The amount of Fme actually worked by employees in one year

The country's transport and communicaFon infrastructure

Social and environmental rules

64



StREngthS and ShORtcOMingS Of yOUR cOUntRy’S cOMPaniES tO OvERcOME thE cRiSiS

64

44

41

41

40

39

36

35

30

54

57

56

58

59

62

63

68

2

2

3

2

2

2

2

2


Social dialogue: relaEons between employers and employees

Payroll taxaEon which finances social protecEon (e.g. re'rement, health, unemployment)

RelaEons between major groups and SMEs

The average employee reErement age

Salary levels, labour costs

English proficiency of employees*

The raEo between salary and cost of living (purchasing power of employees)

The level of income tax and other company taxes

*For Great Britain: « foreign languages » instead of « English »

44

41

41

40

39

36

35

30

54

57

56

58

59

62

63

68

2

2

3

2

2

2

2

2


Social dialogue: relaEons between employers and employees

Payroll taxaEon which finances social protecEon (e.g. re'rement, health, unemployment)

RelaEons between major groups and SMEs

The average employee reErement age

Salary levels, labour costs

English proficiency of employees*

The raEo between salary and cost of living (purchasing power of employees)

The level of income tax and other company taxes

65


StREngthS Of yOUR cOUntRy’S cOMPaniES tO OvERcOME thE cRiSiS

65


Quality of products and services 74 81 75 68 67 72 79

Technical innova5on and research 67 74 75 53 65 60 77 Inven5veness and innova5on in terms of products and services 67 72 71 54 60 68 79

Ability to export, including outside of Europe 66 57 69 65 54 68 85

Quality of the professional training 61 62 69 60 53 57 66 The amount of 5me actually worked by employees in one year 54 51 57 52 50 49 64

The country's transport and communica5on infrastructure 53 72 62 60 38 38 45

Social and environmental rules 46 53 48 43 42 49 43

« Strengths for the most part »

66



StREngthS Of yOUR cOUntRy’S cOMPaniES tO OvERcOME thE cRiSiS

66

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Social dialogue: rela.ons between employers and employees 44 42 50 38 35 44 57

Payroll taxa.on which finances social protec.on (e.g. re.rement, health, unemployment)

41 35 44 46 41 35 47

Rela.ons between major groups and SMEs 41 41 45 40 28 36 57

The average employee re.rement age 40 44 43 40 44 26 41

Salary levels, labour costs 39 35 42 43 33 32 49

English proficiency of employees* 36 21 52 26 17 30 70 The ra.o between salary and cost of living (purchasing power of employees) 35 30 41 39 22 31 46

The level of income tax and other company taxes 30 25 40 41 30 21 25

« Strengths for the most part »


All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056


The ra5o between salary and cost of living (purchasing power of employees) 63 68 58 59 74 67 53

English proficiency of employees* 62 76 47 72 78 69 29


The average employee re5rement age 58 54 56 58 51 73 58

Payroll taxa5on which finances social protec5on (e.g. re5rement, health, unemployment)

56 63 54 52 54 64 52

Rela5ons between major groups and SMEs 56 56 53 57 66 63 41

Social dialogue: rela5ons between employers and employees 54 56 48 60 61 55 42

« Shortcomings for the most part »


67


ShORtcOMingS Of yOUR cOUntRy’S cOMPaniES tO OvERcOME thE cRiSiS

67

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056


The ra5o between salary and cost of living (purchasing power of employees) 63 68 58 59 74 67 53

English proficiency of employees* 62 76 47 72 78 69 29


The average employee re5rement age 58 54 56 58 51 73 58

Payroll taxa5on which finances social protec5on (e.g. re5rement, health, unemployment)

56 63 54 52 54 64 52

Rela5ons between major groups and SMEs 56 56 53 57 66 63 41

Social dialogue: rela5ons between employers and employees 54 56 48 60 61 55 42



68



ShORtcOMingS Of yOUR cOUntRy’S cOMPaniES tO OvERcOME thE cRiSiS

68


Social and environmental rules 52 45 50 54 53 50 56

The country's transport and communica6on infrastructure 45 26 36 37 58 61 53

The amount of 6me actually worked by employees in one year 44 47 42 46 45 50 34

Quality of the professional training 37 36 30 38 42 42 32

Ability to export, including outside of Europe 32 41 30 32 41 31 14

Technical innova6on and research 31 24 24 45 30 39 21

Inven6veness and innova6on in terms of products and services 30 25 27 44 35 31 19

Quality of products and services 24 16 24 30 28 26 19


69

iv cOMPOSing with thE cRiSiS


Personally, for your country to overcome the crisis more quickly, would you be willing to...? To all concerned (except items marked by* which are on a basis of concerned active individuals)

iv - cOMPOSing with thE cRiSiS

70

30

24

21

17

13

6

4

3

40

43

45

35

28

18

11

10

18

20

21

24

28

34

29

28

12

13

13

24

31

41

56

59

1

Completely Somewhat Not really Not at all Don't know / No answer

Undergo training to change career*

Accept that social benefits beIer reflect your income level

Save more money for your reNrement and to cover the risks of dependency

Forego 3 or 4 days of leave in the year*

ReNre one or two years later*

Move house more oRen to change posiNons or jobs*

Accept a 10% reducNon in your income (salaries, pensions, benefits, etc.)

Accept a 10% increase in your taxes

70

67

66

52

41

24

15

13

S/T Yes %

S/T No %

30

33

34

48

59

75

85

87

30

24

21

17

13

6

4

3

40

43

45

35

28

18

11

10

18

20

21

24

28

34

29

28

12

13

13

24

31

41

56

59

1

Completely Somewhat Not really Not at all Don't know / No answer

Undergo training to change career*

Accept that social benefits beIer reflect your income level

Save more money for your reNrement and to cover the risks of dependency

Forego 3 or 4 days of leave in the year*

ReNre one or two years later*

Move house more oRen to change posiNons or jobs*

Accept a 10% reducNon in your income (salaries, pensions, benefits, etc.)

Accept a 10% increase in your taxes

70

67

66

52

41

24

15

13

S/T Yes %

S/T No %

30

33

34

48

59

75

85

87

PERSOnaL EffORtS cOnSidEREd accEPtabLE in ORdER tO OvERcOME thE cRiSiS MORE qUickLy

71


Personally, for your country to overcome the crisis more quickly, would you be willing to...? To all concerned (except items marked by* which are on a basis of concerned active individuals)

PERSOnaL EffORtS cOnSidEREd accEPtabLE in ORdER tO OvERcOME thE cRiSiS MORE qUickLy

All countries

n=6198 n=1021 n=1013 n=1059 n=1040 n=1009 n=1056

Undergo training to change career* 70 69 77 68 69 63 75

Accept that social benefits be=er reflect your income level 67 75 50 76 59 76 61

Save more money for your reErement and to cover the risks of dependency 66 74 54 70 70 60 66

Forego 3 or 4 days of leave in the year* 52 51 40 64 39 67 52

ReEre one or two years later* 41 52 24 43 58 32 31

Move house more oMen to change posiEons or jobs* 24 27 18 22 24 25 28

Accept a 10% reducEon in your income (salaries, pensions, benefits, etc.) 15 13 9 23 11 16 15

Accept a 10% increase in your taxes 13 14 9 15 17 11 12

S/T Yes %


in each of the following areas, how will the amount of your purchases change in the coming months? To all


72

8

4

5

7

5

4

3

4

4

5

4

73

56

49

38

40

40

39

37

35

31

32

19

40

46

55

55

56

58

59

61

64

64

You will increase the amount of your purchases

You will maintain the amount of your purchases at the current level

You will reduce the amount of your purchases

Food

Skincare / cosmeDc products

Clothing

Holidays and leisure

Telephones, computers, digital tablets

Books, CD, DVD

Wines and liquor

Household appliances / Hi-‐fi

Games and toys

Purchase of a vehicle (automobile, motorcycle)

Furniture

81

60

54

45

45

44

42

41

39

36

36

S/t Increase or maintain the amount of your purchases %

EvOLUtiOn Of thE cOnSUMPtiOn in vaRiOUS aREaS

73




France n=1021 Germany n=1013 Spain n=1059

Increase Maintain Reduce Increase Maintain Reduce Increase Maintain Reduce

Food 4 76 20 7 81 12 7 70 23 Skincare / cosme0c products 2 48 50 3 71 26 3 39 58

Clothing 2 48 50 5 64 31 5 39 56 Holidays and leisure 5 44 51 6 51 42 5 24 71 Telephones, computers, digital tablets 2 39 59 4 53 43 5 30 65

Books, CD, DVD 3 38 59 4 55 41 3 28 69 Wines and liquor 1 37 62 3 50 47 2 28 70 Household appliances / Hi-‐fi 2 35 63 3 50 47 4 29 67

Games and toys 2 33 65 3 45 52 5 27 68 Purchase of a vehicle (automobile, motorcycle) 3 29 68 5 41 54 5 22 73

Furniture 3 28 69 4 40 56 4 24 72

74




74

Great Britain n=1040 Italy n=1009 Poland n=1056

Increase Maintain Reduce Increase Maintain Reduce Increase Maintain Reduce

Food 3 78 19 5 69 26 24 62 14 Skincare / cosme0c products 1 59 40 3 45 52 13 70 17

Clothing 2 57 41 3 34 63 15 52 33 Holidays and leisure 5 49 46 3 26 71 16 36 48 Telephones, computers, digital tablets 3 51 46 3 26 71 10 45 45

Books, CD, DVD 2 52 46 4 29 67 9 40 51 Wines and liquor 2 49 49 2 29 69 9 40 51 Household appliances / Hi-‐fi 2 43 55 2 24 74 11 42 47

Games and toys 2 43 55 3 26 71 8 38 54 Purchase of a vehicle (automobile, motorcycle) 3 43 54 3 17 80 11 34 55

Furniture 3 41 56 3 19 78 9 37 54

75

in each of the following areas of consumption, what do you do or would you like to do? To all

nEw cOnSUMPtiOn PRacticES in vaRiOUS aREaS

26

18

18

20

14

12

11

8

7

6

30

28

27

22

28

28

26

26

16

17

43

53

54

57

57

59

62

65

76

76

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

You already purchase or exchange among private individuals as a preference You do not purchase or exchange among private individuals, but you would like to do so You do not purchase or exchange among private individuals, and you would not like to do so Don't know / No answer

Books, CD, DVD

Games and toys


Clothing

Furniture




Skincare / cosmeTc products

Wines and liquor

56

46

45

42

42

40

37

34

23

23

S/t You do it or would like to %

26

18

18

20

14

12

11

8

7

6

30

28

27

22

28

28

26

26

16

17

43

53

54

57

57

59

62

65

76

76

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

You already purchase or exchange among private individuals as a preference You do not purchase or exchange among private individuals, but you would like to do so You do not purchase or exchange among private individuals, and you would not like to do so Don't know / No answer

Books, CD, DVD

Games and toys


Clothing

Furniture




Skincare / cosmeTc products

Wines and liquor

56

46

45

42

42

40

37

34

23

23

S/t You do it or would like to %


in each of the following areas of consumption, what do you do or would you like to do? - you already purchase or exchange among private individuals

as a preference

- you do not purchase or exchange among private individuals, but you would like to do so

- you do not purchase or exchange among private individuals, and you would not like to do so

To all


76

France n=1021 Germany n=1013 Spain n=1059

Do already

Don’t do but would like to

Don’t do and would not like to

Do already Don’t do but would like to




Books, CD, DVD 28 28 43 27 27 46 25 38 37 Games and toys 20 28 52 20 26 54 19 36 45 Purchase of a vehicle (…) 20 23 56 9 26 65 12 34 53 Clothing 18 20 61 18 23 59 22 26 52 Furniture 21 24 54 11 23 66 14 36 50 Telephones, computers, digital tablets 10 24 66 8 25 66 15 37 47

Household appliances / Hi-‐fi 13 23 63 9 24 67 11 36 53

Holidays and leisure 8 27 64 5 20 75 9 38 53 Skincare / cosmeHc products 4 12 83 5 16 79 10 22 68

Wines and liquor 5 14 80 3 15 81 7 23 70

LES 3 adjEctifS qUi cORRESPOndEnt à L’état d’ESPRit actUELnEw cOnSUMPtiOn PRacticES in vaRiOUS aREaS

77


in each of the following areas of consumption, what do you do or would you like to do? - you already purchase or exchange among private individuals

as a preference

- you do not purchase or exchange among private individuals, but you would like to do so

- you do not purchase or exchange among private individuals, and you would not like to do so

To all

LES 3 adjEctifS qUi cORRESPOndEnt à L’état d’ESPRit actUELnEw cOnSUMPtiOn PRacticES in vaRiOUS aREaS

Great-‐Britain n=1040 Italy n=1009 Poland n=1056







Books, CD, DVD 29 28 41 23 30 47 23 29 48 Games and toys 16 25 57 18 29 53 16 25 59 Purchase of a vehicle (…) 15 23 61 16 31 53 34 25 39 Clothing 20 19 59 21 24 54 21 23 55 Furniture 14 27 57 11 31 58 14 27 58 Telephones, computers, digital tablets 11 23 65 13 32 55 16 26 58

Household appliances / Hi-‐fi 12 25 62 11 29 60 11 23 65

Holidays and leisure 10 21 67 10 27 63 6 21 72 Skincare / cosmeHc products 9 14 75 12 20 68 4 12 83

Wines and liquor 8 16 74 11 21 68 3 13 83

78

RESULtS Of thE fREEthinking

qUaLitativE StUdy

79

RESULtS Of thE fREEthinking

qUaLitativE StUdy

From March 12 th-25th, 2013, we gathered some 400 upper middle class Europeans*, divided into 5 communities of 70-80 people from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Our goal: to gain better understanding of their perception of the recession that began in 2008, and their vision of how to recover from that crisis.

Conducted alongside the Ipsos quantitative study, the aim of this online qualitative survey was to grasp how Europeans articulate their perceptions – and thoughts – on a subject which is both theoretical and extraordinarily concrete.

What does this recession mean for a French person, an Italian, a Spaniard, a Briton, a German?

Overcoming the recession: how do Southern Europeans view proposed solutions, when their personal framework has been so extensively destabilized? What about Germans, whose country can boast of enviable economic performance results? And what about the French? Ending the recession: what does that mean for middle class Europeans, who are the driving force of our societies? What opportunities do they perceive? What decisions do they envisage – and what sacrifices? Which actors do they trust to take up this challenge?

Our consultation process gathered a massive 2,986 posts in response to these questions. The portrait that emerges differs markedly from the “old” vision of Europe. And that portrait is not blurry: it is sharply etched.

*50% men, 50% women, ages 25-60, working and retired populations. Upper middle classes:

household income from €3,000/month for France and Germany, €2,500/month for Spain and Italy, £2,500 for the UK–up to €/£ 7,000/month for double income.

Representation of unemployment and public/private sector employees in line with country averages.

MEthOdOLOgy

COmmUNiTieS

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i. fROM ShOck tO SEREnity, PERcEPtiOnS Of thE cRiSiS aRE nOt jUSt a LittLE diffEREnt–thEy’RE wORLdS aPaRt. First point: perceptions of the recession are diametrically opposed. The europeans we questioned indicate that the recession that began in 2008 has had sharply different impact on their personal lives and their country, has different causes and different consequences in the near term.

diffEREnt iMPactS.This topic involves the most disagreement, with mental frameworks specific to each of the 5 countries studied (although France and italy share some common traits):

“Continuous” shock: this is the Spa-nish model. A key phrase: “We would never have believed it could have got to this point.” Catastrophically low morale , with the percept ion of NEVER having experienced a worse period (even under the Franco regime); despondency faced with what is per-ceived as a longterm situation with no inviting future in sight; soaring job insecurity leading to very strong fear

of losing their homes, the latter fear even more pronounced than the fear of unemployment. Severe consumption trade-offs have already been adopted (cutting travel, hobbies, holidays and clothing). All of this leads to expres-sions of great vehemence regarding the economic and political elite, extenging quite frequently to the royal family, with talk of sanctions, prison and banishment.

“Never, in this country, have we experienced such a deep crisis; we all have a family member who is unemployed or in financial difficulty. If someone had said to me five years ago that we would fall so low, I wouldn’t have believed him. Banks are no longer lending, families can’t pay their mortgages, every day loads of people are being evicted: we are all affected, either directly or indirectly.” – Spain

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“Those who squander money need to know that their lives are going to change, that they risk permanent destitution and prison, and it’s important that this happens. It’s only after we’ve managed to achieve this that we should ask people to make sacrifices, and not start by taking the easy option” – Spain

Saturation: this is the Italian and French model. The key phrase: “It just can’t go on any longer.” Morale is in a less catastrophic state than in Spain, vehemence less extreme (even with res-pect to demands for sanctions against the elite classes who are perceived as totally corrupt in Italy). Several par-ticipants describe themselves as crip-pled by taxes, overwhelmed by an impression of living in continuous decline, carrying the entire weight of the country on their shoulders. Fur-thermore, they say they are compelled to severely restrict their consumption. They are worried sick by the idea of losing their job from one day to the

next and of not being able to grow old with dignity in the years to come. There is a very keen perception of de-industrialisation, crystalized in Italy around the idea of “Italy, a country that is closing down”, or one moving towards a more “eastern” model. In France and Italy alike, both individuals and the country as a whole are per-ceived as reaching “breaking point”: when the next hard blow hits, there will be no more resources, no more margins for manoeuvre, and inevi-tably the result will be a fall in social status for the individual or irreversible decline for the country.

“The crisis isn’t over yet. It’s still looming over us. On top of which, the politicians hide the real truth from us. And I think that, in 2014, the situation will spiral dramatically out of control in France. Because the population will be really impoverished. The state should lead by example rather than taking actions that conflict with their discourse. The French will be surprised when they receive their income tax assessment in August 2013. What a scandal… Personally, I’m saving at the moment so I’ll be ready to face the real crisis.” – France

“France is sad because for the last 10 months we have been on a ship that is floundering, with no course charted, in the fog, with an incompetent crew.” – France

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“What saddens me most when I’m walking through the streets of my hometown is the number of shops that are going out of business day after day, factories that are closing down, tradespeople who are barely managing to keep their heads above water, the sad atmosphere you can sense, the impression of a total lack of any desire to fight, the feeling of resignation, that’s what frightens me the most.” – Italy

Calm amid the storm: this is the Bri-tish model. This approach is very cha-racteristic, despite the insecurity of the labour market described by many par-ticipants (and in particular, their very present fear of losing their jobs). The recession is a hard one, and it entails cutting consumption, but is also in a sense a known factor – manageable, and due essentially to the behaviour of banks (who are guilty of excessive spe-

culation and then a sudden cut of cre-dit flows). The key phrase: “It’s difficult but business will take off again.” There is strong desire to avoid panic and stay open to new initiatives. Govern-ment and the elite classes in general are acknowledged for their avoidance of panic, even though their decisions may be criticized.

“People have tightened their belts and spending has dropped so we are in a spiral of decline whereby less spending leads to further loss-making companies, leading to more job losses, ad infinitum. Very circular. The fact is that the debt to income ratio is at its lowest point for generations and we have super low interest rates; so part of the “savings” trend is induced only by fear. I’m optimistic that things will get better – these things are (historically) cyclical.” – UK

Serenity: this is the German model, unique and totally at odds with the rest of Europe. The key phrase: “Honestly, I haven’t even noticed the recession.” Des-pite some anxiety or specific dissatis-factions (with respect to “mini-jobs” and the lack of a minimum wage in particular), the German approach is characterized by very strong confidence in the national economy and social

welfare system. There is also recognition that the crisis has been well managed, with broadly accepted measures – in particular flexible work schemes and a vehicle scrapping “cash for clunkers” plan – that have enabled swift exit from reception and a move into recovery. Today the recession is over in Germany, and has become only a distant echo from abroad.

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“Honestly, I have to say that I followed all these events but that personally, I didn’t notice the crisis at all. We know very well that there are big problems but it all seems very unreal as it hasn’t affected us at all. Like a distant war.” – Germany

diffEREnt viSiOnS Of thE fUtURE.perceptions of the future differ greatly, and can be analysed into three groups:

“The future has no future (or little future)”: Southern Europe, in particu-lar Spain and Italy, but also to a lesser extent France. In discussions between participants, we saw the idea take hold that the situation is perhaps beginning to reach a point of no return. This idea of the possible point of no return is empha-tically expressed in Italy and in Spain, in particular via numerous posts relating to emigration, presented as an increasingly realistic or even inevitable solution, par-ticularly for young people. In all three countries – although more significantly

in Spain than in France and Italy – there is a very strong feeling of humiliation. The individual is no longer master of his or her own destiny. The country is becoming “a third world country”, the situation is terrible and will be even worse tomorrow (Spain), residents have been in the “red” for a very long time and the country is governed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Spain, Italy); the worst is yet to come and it’s now just round the corner, we need to take shelter while there is still time (France).

“The economic crisis that is sweeping through France really frightens me, the situation must not get to the point it’s reached in Greece or Spain… I think however, you don’t have to be pessimistic to think that we are well on the road to reaching that point with the current government – the Socialist Party is in power in Greece just it has been in France for almost a year now…” – France

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“Unfortunately, I’m afraid that we will not find a way out of this crisis, because in Italy, the conditions required to make this happen in the short term (in the next five years) just don’t exist. I hope that my children will succeed in finding work in a (foreign) country where the conditions are better.” – Italy

“Why bother studying? The people who make a good living are the celebrities. Why bother studying? At the end of the day, only thieves make a decent living. Why bother studying? So that Germany can do even better? Why bother working, why bother making an effort, why improve productivity since, at the end of day, I won’t have a pension? Why make an effort? ... Tomorrow, perhaps, my boss will decide that I earn too much money and will kick me out the door because I’m not profitable. WHY?” – Spain

“The future isn’t easy, but it is in our own hands”: Britain. A key expres-sion, directly quoted from the blog: “Fairly resilient”. One very firmly esta-blished idea that emerged from the discussions: individual responsibility. All in all, for the great majority of participants, an image clearly emerges

of a country and citizens that are not in very good shape economically speaking, but who nevertheless are still in control of their destiny. Under-lying this: the idea that fortunately, Britain opted out of the euro, and thus has escaped some of the pitfalls of European integration.

“The country’s situation seems to be a lot better than other European countries because we’re not tied into policy by the euro. We still have full control over our own destiny as it were. I anticipate things will get better, especially when the ConDem government get booted out of office, when everyone realises what a shambles they are.” – UK

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“The future looks good”: the Germans. A key phrase: “We’re doing well and we’re well prepared.” Overall, participants rallied around two ideas: of course problems may arise in the future, in particular regarding pensions with low interest rates; but we

can prepare ourselves to face these issues calmly because we have plenty of time and functioning frameworks for dialogue between companies, government and trade unions.

“Germany is still the driving force of Europe and still number one in terms of its economy. (…) All in all, I think that Germany can be counted among the winners (if there is anything to be won from the crisis).” – Germany

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ii. aLL tOgEthER OR aLOnE againSt EvERyOnE? twO OPPOSing viEwS Of thE Main PLayERS in thE REcOvERy PROcESS. point number two: discussions between participants from the various communities revealed not just different views of the recession, but also the process of recovery. Two opposing models divided Northern and Southern europe, particularly on the subject of the main actors of recovery.

NOrTherN eUrOpe, GermaNy aNd TO a leSSer deGree, The UK: all TOGeTher. Regarding economic recovery and its main actors, Germany is unique among the five countries studied: the vast majo-rity of participants agree that all social and economic insitutions not only have a positive role to play, but have played it well and continue to do so.

The government and opposition – many participants recalled that these actors were united under Schröder and Merkel in the “Great Coalition”, in order to introduce measures to aid the economy (flexible work schemes were unanimously adopted).

• Trade unions: some participants stated that without them “Germany would not be Germany,” and that they played

a key role in implementing transitional solutions that they negotiated.

• Big businesses featured massively in the discussion boards, not only as reliable and constructive social par-tners (even if their primary aim was to achieve maximum profit with little concern for under-performing SMEs) but also as a source of German pride.

All these players are acknowledged for their positive role in resolving the recession. The EU is viewed as an ele-ment that, for the time being, does not make things worse – or not too much. However, participants feel that aid given to EU countries in difficulty should be limited.

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“The government acted very intelligently. I have already described the actions taken by Chancellor Merkel and the Minister of Finance Steinbrück (…). Similarly, the former Minister of Economy, zu Guttenberg, also adopted some good positions.” – Germany

“Without the trade unions, Germany would not be Germany! They are indispensable and provide a counterbalance for social inequalities. Even if I’m not a member of a union, I find them good and very useful!” – Germany

“Generally speaking, due to their above average quality, German companies haven’t suffered particularly, compared with companies in other countries.” – Germany

On the UK blog, the situation is not seen as quite so clear-cut and comments are mixed. The EU is viewed more as a factor that may have created reces-sion, since opting out of the euro clearly benefited the UK. The banks attract unanimous hostility from UK partici-pants. But although other institutions may be challenged and criticised, they are still viewed as potential contributors to recovery:

• The government’s austerity policy is much vilified by some participants but defended by others as inevitable. This falls very much into the category of “normal” political discussion, both in content and vocabulary. • Trade unions may also be severely cal-led into question for oppositional tac-tics, but they are not insulted or accused of being fundamentally dishonest.

• The opposition: seen as relatively ineffective and at least partially res-ponsible for the current crisis when it was in power, but is not viewed as corrupt. • Big businesses are perceived as insuf-ficiently supportive of small businesses and too likely to evade tax, but also as essential for wealth creation.

This is very much the conversation and tone used in ordinary democratic exchange. Things are difficult, and if the UK is now where it is, it is because many players have done their job badly. (Others feel it is because the citizens themselves lacked a sense of responsibility when all was going well). However, no actor is accused of delibe-rately or knowingly provoking the cur-rent difficulties, or worse, of profiting from them.

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“I think some of the austerity measures are a step in the right direction. We need to reduce the UK’s debt burden but perhaps not as deeply or quickly as is currently touted by the Tories.” – UK

“- The opposition: are crucial to proper debate in parliament- Business: crucial to employment & taxation- European institutions: are not helping us right now. It is a distraction to national policies.- The trade unions: like the curate’s egg – good in parts. Some protect rights and others seem to be basically blackmailing (industries) over incremental pay and rights for already well paid staff.” – UK

SOUthERn EUROPE – fRancE, itaLy, SPain: aLOnE againSt EvERyOnE (OR aLMOSt).Conversely, in Southern Europe, almost all institutions appear to be discredited. Spain is the most radical country in Sou-thern Europe in terms of its judgement on institutional actors; even the royal family – which was not listed among the institutions to be evaluated but was spontaneously cited by a significant minority of participants – is called into question. The royal family does remains on the margins of what might be termed a “pool of corrupt elite classes”, who are very vehemently attacked, using vocabu-lary that is fundamentally different from that employed in Britain or Germany. There are insults (“thieves” who “couldn’t give a damn about us”) and legal threats (“The guilty must be punished.”).

In Spain, as in Italy, no institutional actor is seen as likely to provide solu-tions; most, in fact, are perceived as additional problems – factors hinde-ring recovery, even “cancers”:

• The government: in Italy, where the institutional crisis has hit hard, and in Spain, where the Rajoy government crystallises resentment of the efforts demanded of citizens, as well as hel-plessness in the face of job insecurity and anger against unethical behaviour, the government is seen as guilty. In Italy people frequently describe their attitude towards the government as “vergogna”, “shame”.

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• The opposition: in Spain, seen as guilty, like the government (“the worst politicians of all times”); in Italy, even maverick politician Grillo, who received many comments of support on the blog, is questioned on his abi-lity to give his full commitment to finding solutions.

• Trade unions: both in Italy and Spain they are seen as obstacles recovery, with very strong denunciation of vote-cat-ching practices in both countries.

Businesses: big businesses in Spain are tarred with the same brush as the political elites, with a very harsh anti-manager stance (“crisis profiteers”) as well as denunciation of their quasi-mafia excesses – a position often crys-

tallised in discussions on the banking sector. There is slightly less negative perception in Italy, where there are more defenders of corporations, but they nevertheless are seen as largely indifferent or mercenary and are often accused of tax evasion.

• Europe: the roles of European ins-titutions (European Commission, European Central Bank) are vague and misunderstood, but in both Spain and Italy participants grasp a num-ber of certitudes: in Europe today “It’s Merkel that decides everything”, and the German Chancellor seeks only to safeguard the interests of the richer and more powerful countries. The national sovereignty of southern countries is seen as directly threathened.

“This government is close to the corrupt elites, it tolerates them and turns a blind eye to their activities; it is very close to the interests of the banks which apparently do not make enough money; and it is the taxpayers who have to pay for their mistakes, their debts and bad management; it is also close to certain businessmen, as well as to the Spanish Employers Union, and you regularly see “star” entrepreneurs appearing who then find themselves accused of fraud, who pocket our subsidies, which we all pay for… They make people redundant right, left and centre…” – Spain

“The measures taken are not popular at all and penalise the middle classes. It wouldn’t bother me if the following condition were fulfilled “THAT THE OFFICIALS HAVE THEIR ASSETS EXPROPRIATED AND ARE PUT IN PRISON”, THAT IS FOR SURE!!!” – Spain

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“Our country makes me sick (…). It’s disgraceful, I’m ashamed of being Italian (…). We’re just a joke to the rest of Europe, our money disappears into the pockets of those people who call themselves “politicians”. They are all the same, they’re thieves, we’re a country of thieves. The only thing that would save us would be honesty, a word that is unknown in Italy. I prefer not to add anything else, as we know that there is no freedom of speech in this country.” – Italy

France is part of this Southern Europe group, insofar as French blog par-ticipants adopt the same main the-mes, attacking institutional actors, although usually in more moderate terms. Very harsh criticism is expressed against the government – not up to the job, incompetent, irrelevant poli-cies (outrageous tax system, lacklustre, dilatory debates…) – but also against the opposition, which is considered to

be non-existent; trade unions, seen as completely obsolete and obstructive to solutions; the underclass, living off welfare benefits; Europe, which has become incomprehensible… Big busi-nesses are also criticized (indifferent, even mercenary, their playing field is the entire world and they neglect France…). However, this vision of business is less virulent than in Spain, and less specific than in Italy.

“Our country is suffering the consequences of the economic crisis and our government seems to be either powerless or lazy! I don’t think we will save the French economy by raising taxes and increasing the number of working tax credit beneficiaries! The government doesn’t seem to be supporting French industry which would assist in safeguarding or even creating jobs.” – France

“If only the trade unions would stop precipitating the collapse of businesses, by strangling them with their refusal to consider any proposals, and thereby participating directly and indirectly in the rise in unemployment.” – France

“The opposition is counter-productive. They shout and cry at the slightest decision taken by the government, when they would in fact have taken the same decisions if they were in power. It is purely an attempt to gain popularity and it’s pointless.” – France

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“The economy will be saved through growth, and growth can only come from businesses, small and big. Let’s stop demonising the big businesses: they are the ones that drive the medium-sized enterprises which in turn drive the small businesses, all of which provide people with jobs.” – France

It has to be said that France and Italy are, by far, the two countries in which participants are the most open to public/private partnerships. Germans and Britons mostly oppose them (“Everyone to his trade”, “The privati-sations were a disaster.”) and Spaniards

are unequivocally hostile (“Yet another way to take advantage of us.”). This attitude to PPPs in France and Italy, which is not unconditional, expresses the desire to take a pragmatic stance vis-à-vis large corporations: let’s use their power and efficiency.

“It could be done but always with a public management body (…). Partnerships could also be put in place when certain businesses offer a technical skill that the public sector doesn’t have, or even if they possess greater investment capacity.” – France

“It would be right, in order to really improve service and reduce costs, for businesses to manage certain public services. As they are obliged to run efficiently, businesses would ensure that processes are simplified. And awarding contracts through a tender process could cut overheads.” – Italy

Underlying Southern Europe is defiance, with greater or lesser pessi-mism. One common trait: difficulty in thinking collectively, at the country

level; while the Germans and British are both more confident (in the future, in each other) and more combative (individually, but also together).

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iii. OvER-PREPaREd, wELL-PREPaREd, UnPREPaREd: cOUntRiES aRE cOnfROnting REcESSiOn with vERy UnEvEn SkiLL-SEtS. analysis of country strengths and weaknesses regarding economic recovery – as seen by the five communities who participated in this collaborative discussion over the 10 days of the blog – produced very divergent results. in addition to what this divergent data tells us about levels of confidence, hopes and aspirations, it also provides startling confirmation of the highly contrasting attitudes to national abilities and the question of social cohesion that was raised during discussion of institutional actors. Three models emerge clearly from this analysis:

The “Over-prepared” mOdel – GermaNy. The Germans we questioned demonstrated genuine confidence and real pride in speaking about a strong Germany. The German economy and society had an abundance of advantages resulting from long-standing and effective government policies, and historical strengths: labor market flexibility unanimously perceived as an asset, effective social dialogue with trade unions and a pragmatic and non-conflictual approach that helps the country to move forward, uniquely German quality which supports economic performance.

“I think that companies are well-prepared, in particular because they can fall back on part-time work from time to time. (…) Businesses seem to be doing well, and I’m very optimistic about their ability to survive another crisis, should it occur.” – Germany

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“Germany is very strong on the economic front thanks to its innovative companies and its very cooperative trade unions.” – Germany

“The trade unions: they put forward reasonable requests when it came to salaries. That undoubtedly helped Germany recover from the crisis.” – Germany

The only shadow in the picture, the price they had to pay, of a sort, as a result of their often cited success: Germany’s commercial dependence on the rest of Europe and the incertitude of being able to maintain their high export levels.

“Germany’s reputation for producing high-quality products is undoubtedly a big advantage and therefore a strength. But Germany is dependent on its exports which could also present itself as a major weakness. If there are further international repercussions on the economy, it will have a very big impact on Germany.” – Germany

What really stands out the most from all these contributions, and differs sharply from contributions from Southern Europe (although perhaps

not the UK), is once again a very strong collective spirit that fosters harmonious negotiation between managers and employees.

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“It is the people that form the basis of our strength. But our attitude to politics is also an advantage, as after all, that is what keeps both people and businesses happy in Germany.” – Germany

As opposed to…

“It’s very difficult to find a solution, because in our country, there are too many people, institutions, businesses and others who are in the habit of pocketing commissions, taking a cut, accepting back-handers, both small and large, in other words all the money they can possible extract from the other citizens.” – Spain

The “well-prepared” mOdel - UK, FraNCe, iTaly.The english, French and italians we interviewed shared a similar assessment: there are some serious impediments but also some major assets. This could lead us to question, in particular for France and italy, whether this assessment is somewhat unrealistic – some of the supposed assets seem fairly vague and can in this light appear to be “escapist fantasies”. By way of compari-son, German participants were able to cite concrete examples that directly concern them when they spoke of flexibility or partial unemployment.

perCeived impedimeNTS.In the UK: an economy insufficiently stimulated to jump-start business and entrepreneurship (blamed on the reluc-tance of banks); an absence of coopera-

tion between big businesses and SMEs (the case of Tesco is often cited); immi-gration as being competition for “British workers”.

“There are many companies who can’t do much because they cannot get any cash from the banks. They won’t go broke, but cannot expand. They just coast unproductively.” – UK

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In Italy: widespread corruption among political and business leaders is at the top of the list, as we have already seen. But also, a dramatic lack of civic sense throughout the entire population, to a

degree that is unique and dwarfs that of the other countries studied. At the macroeconomic level, businesses are burdened by an unfair tax policy, as well as by the inertia of the banks.

“The situation could be improved if there were more professionals and less amateurism, if we really privatized and encouraged people to feel valued for their skills and not for who they know. If Italians were to change their mindset to be more like Northern Europe and quit thinking solely about how to cheat each other, perhaps we would be moving in the right direction.” – Italy

In France, the impediments most often cited were: social contributions as placing an overwhelming and ultimately destructive burden on businesses, the 35-hours week as having a detrimental effect on many and contributing to the inefficiency of the French economic model, immigration viewed from a socioeconomic angle, as putting a strain on social security government handouts as being virtually institutionalized, a situation that is not only extremely costly for the community but also destroys value and saps the morale of those who work, and finally, recent government policy as an impediment in and of itself: inaction on government spending and a social security system adrift; the end of tax exemption of overtime pay as a further detriment to French purchasing power; the hostility shown toward corporate executives, increasing the risk of economic hardship and putting the brakes on entrepreneurship.

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“Businesses cannot survive the crisis, they simply cannot cope with being overtaxed by the government! That’s why so many are relocating! So the government needs to take action and help them! Employers are not all looking for a huge profit! Some also want to support their country and the people who live here.” – France

“The problem is our inertia in the face of change. We take too much for granted, we urgently need to reconsider the viability of the 35-hours work week, which today has not had the desired effect on job creation and has been slowing companies down.” – France

“The government has been very creative in inventing new taxes but has done nothing to reduce public spending (which would mean redefining the role of the state, and the use of modern methods such as levying withholding tax).” – France

“I am against all kinds of handouts and the various abuses of the welfare system which only serve to increase inequality, make honest people feel frustrated, and add to the government deficit!” – France

“Not allowing the arrival ‘en masse’ of people who have no business being in France. Bringing back the work ethic, adopting effective measures even if they’re unpopular. And most importantly, seeing that our country, our rules and our laws are respected.” – France

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perCeived aSSeTS. In the UK, the vast majority of people interviewed see their country’s position outside the eurozone as being a source of strength in the past and even more so today: England as a resolutely Anglo-Saxon power rather than a European one, drawing on the strength of relationships with commonwealth countries and with the USA. Also, the historical “British Bulldog spirit” as a distinctive character trait that is valued in business.

“The advantages are: pound instead of euro, island isolation, English language, economical links with Commonwealth countries, strong presence in international relations.” – UK

“The British bulldog spirit still exists, and we are usually at our best when seen as the underdogs or threatened.” – UK

In France and in Italy: the assets evoked tend to sound like products of escapist fantasy: creativity, innovation, or even “Italian resourcefulness”; the know-how that supposedly transforms “Made in France” and “Made in Italy” into a reality that must be defended and promoted, in tandem with other assets linked to his-tory and heritage: tourism, culture, history and the “art of living”.

“One of our country’s strong points has always been our ability to adapt to the most extreme situations, our imagination, our creativity.” – Italy

“France’s main assets during the crisis are, above all, advanced know-how in certain areas (aerospace, nuclear, renewable energies such as solar, luxury goods, tourism, agriculture, etc.). These skills should be developed further so they can be exported.” – France

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“Labor and creativity. In France we haven’t got oil, but we have got ideas.” – France

“France has a geographic location, culture and a level of creativity that have long made this little country one of this world’s leaders.” – France

TheN There iS The Third mOdel, The COUNTry ThaT SeeS iTSelF aS “UNprepared”: SpaiN.Numerous posts deliver a very specific assessment, many of them conveying a sense of despair.

Although a number of participants still referred to the “Made in Spain” concept as an asset and even as a type of “Spanish genius”, these references were not in the majority. What was in the majority, in fact, was the feeling of irreversible decline, and this corol-lary question: what is left of Spain? Many make the very harsh assessment that Spain is a country economically dead in the water, killed by its ruling elites.

“The main problem is people’s lack of confidence in their elected representatives, but how are they supposed to trust people who have not gone into politics to help others but rather to steal all that they can, to enrich themselves at the expense of others, not giving a damn whether or not we’re able to make ends meet every month? To overcome the crisis, we must first clean up the political class of this country.” – Spain

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“This country needs a major movement like the regeneration movement of 1898. With the loss of trust in politicians, the economic crisis, the crisis of values (which is undoubtedly worse), we are losing our bearings. (…) It’s like a century ago, the socialists are responsible for everything, we can see it in the centrifugal forces that have led many of us to fear living in the soon-to-be Ex-Spain. There’s no possible solution if we cannot learn to walk together on the same path. (…) Transformed into a country made up of “taifas’ kingdoms”, which is a serious scourge in Spain, we will have absolutely nothing at all. I’m sorry, but I cannot be more optimistic.” – Spain

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iv. hOw can wE EMERgE fROM thE cRiSiS? diffEREnt viSiOnS Of thE EffORtS REqUiREd. The fourth key point raised in these online conversations: answers to the question “how can we emerge from the crisis?” differ significantly at the collective level. That is, the answers converge in principle but they differ with regard to how individuals can put the solutions into practice. and there is this conclusion: europeans polled in these communities give a sense of progressing in a disorganized fashion towards a solution to the crisis, which remains very much hypothetical in southern europe.

diFFereNT SOlUTiONS depeNdiNG ON The COUNTry.Job protection is the priority for all participants regardless of their country, their experience of the crisis, or their country’s particular situation. As far as how to achieve this, the strategies put forward by Europeans differ dramatically.

• For Germany, the solution is external and “there is life outside of Europe”. It is always about preserving export channels, often meaning exports to those countries representing the world outside old Europe and from which salvation, prosperity and employment will come. The obvious solution is to focus efforts on exporting German quality to emerging countries, while efficiently managing exports to Europe. Specific efforts to maintain the quality of the German workforce (youth training, immigration control…) would need to be a top national priority.

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“Our businesses are in fact Germany’s economic strength. (…) German products are known and appreciated around the world for their quality, we don’t need to jeopardize this by relying on cheap production abroad. Exports are a key pillar of our economy but that will only be true as long as we deliver high-quality products.” – Germany

“In my opinion, German companies have pretty much kept out of the crisis up to now. This is because they export to many countries, especially to wealthy countries (such as China and Arab countries) where demand has not been affected as much by the European crisis.” – Germany

• For the UK, the reasoning is similar. The country is decidedly outside the eurozone and the European Union, moving in an Anglo-Saxon orbit where pragmatic development efforts can show results in terms of growth and therefore employment. The main idea being if it ain’t broke don’t fix it (i.e., why change

successful strategies that work – Germans exporting quality, British turning to the ‘Open Sea’). There is no reason, the argu-ment goes, that this way of doing things should no longer work in a globalized world. Persevere? Yes. Question how things are done? Perhaps. Start over from scratch? Why should we?

“The UK still retains a global brand, and provided firms open their eyes further than Europe and the US, they will find a growing middle class that is hungry for the things we find at home.” - UK

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• In Southern Europe and France, although the need to conquer markets and promote quality is also mentio-ned, the most frequently cited solution is fundamentally different: looking inward to help develop the country. Protecting the Made in France/Spain/Italy concept means first and foremost protecting the national economy, local employment, local demand and the local economic fabric. Proposing a new shared future to businesses by promoting links with big businesses and local SMEs. And there’s one issue that barely registers in Germany and the UK: rebuilding a future for young people in their home country. And the implications are greater than they would be in Northern Europe as it

involves fundamentally reinventing an economic and social model that no longer works. With a glaring question from employees in France, Italy and Spain perceptible in their tone and choice of wording: is getting past the crisis – an enormous task for which we have no “user manual” – something that can be achieved within one gene-ration? It is not a matter, as it is in Germany, of simply pushing onward, making adjustments and anticipating the identified risks (European demand, rising inequality, uncontrolled immi-gration, etc.). Or, as in the UK, of turning once again toward a “natu-ral” destiny. No, here it is a matter of rebooting an entire nation, beginning with its ruling elites.

“What I expect from big businesses in times of crisis is a more responsible attitude. They are robust enough to safeguard jobs, they can take action towards sustainable development: prioritizing short distribution chains with local supply from French SMEs in order to support them and promote French know-how rather than outsourcing.” – France

“I expect them to know how to get involved fully to combat the crisis by trying to create jobs as much as they can and investing in the country, by putting investments outside of Spain on the backburner.” – Spain

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“SMEs need to form a network, to share common strategies (take, for example the case of the 12 companies in Modena that I mentioned in my previous post), to seek out new markets, with the support of effective government agencies.” – Italy

real BUT FraGile CONverGeNCeS aT The iNdividUal level.The final lesson to be learned from this collaborative research: in response to the question “What would you be willing to do personally?” three fin-dings emerge with striking clarity and demonstrate that consensus can be fragile among Europeans even when they seem to share a point of view.

• Firstly, on the degree of recepti-vity to the notion of individual effort required to emerge from the crisis.

A first reading shows us that all of the participants, regardless of their country of origin, are willing to make an effort to end the crisis; this is a genuine point of consensus. However, the “degree of receptivity” may be very different:

Relatively low in Spain, by far the community the least willing to make

an effort, both because previous efforts are described as enormous, and because the issue of the equal distribution of those that remain is a controversial and in a sense obstruc-tive one (“others need to make an effort now!); on this scale of “degree of openness” towards efforts, Ger-many is by far the highest country, because for the moment it is relatively unaffected by the crisis but above all because the efforts already made ten years ago (with the frequent evocation of the Hartz concept) are still fresh in the memory... and because they were successful. As with collective solutions, the UK is more on the side of Germany in terms of this question of individual effort; France and Italy, although more open, are more on the side of Spain.

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“There is widespread disillusionment and if we wait for those who are corrupt to solve our problems, we will continue to wait. We must, as citizens, deal with the root causes of the problem and get rid of the politicians who are responsible for this situation. This should bring a breath of fresh air and a clean start to give us renewed hope.” – Spain Espagne

“People are willing to make sacrifices if there is a result at the end: but we are required to make more and more effort and the situation gets worse every year... Well, for some, because the situation of the decision-makers is just getting better... politicians, big bosses… Efforts, sure, but efforts by everyone, especially for those who want to apply them to others.” – France

“For me, in principle, all the points are acceptable but not all at the same time.” – Germany

• Then, on the question of the required ROI. Although the Germans expressing their opinions on this blog say they are more willing to make certain kinds of effort, it is in fact only them; the issue of ROI of these efforts arose among all Europeans surveyed, but in a different form. For if the idea that effort is possible, desirable, even inevitable, brings communities together regardless of their view of the crisis and getting out it, accepting to make these efforts is therefore clearly linked to the vision of the country’s future, its responsiveness. It can be seen in terms of positive or negative elasticity

of effort: a vision of a difficult future and a facture country, with corrupt and/or incompetent elites, in the three Southern European countries, reinforces the negative elasticity of effort (“My efforts won’t have any effect, apart from negative.”). And this makes the notion more difficult (in France, Italy) or even intolerable (in Spain). In contrast, in Germany, the vision of a reassuring past suggests that there will be a positive elas-ticity of effort in the future, that more efforts should be made (“My efforts have already had a higher ROI on the sacrifices made once before, so this will surely hap-pen again.”) and therefore people are encouraged to respond more positively.

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“Firstly, we need to know if these measures are really going to recover from the crisis, because the vast majority of them have already been taken and their effectiveness still remains to be seen. However, we quickly felt the negative effects.” – Spain

“Since the crisis happened, I’ve always done what was asked of me by the government and I’ve changed my lifestyle, without receiving anything from the government. (…) It is unbearable to think of all the money that has been diverted from the state coffers, which was spent on unnecessary and luxurious things for their friends and themselves. They should give all this money back and be punished for abuse of power (...). And what pains us the most, as citizens, is that they have come together to rob us and now it’s up to us to pay for it, and they’re not guilty of anything because they’re protected by laws made by and for them. ENOUGH’S ENOUGH!” – Spain

“For us, in Germany, the crisis did not have any impact because we are better off. Everyone contributed (employees, employers, trade unions, etc.) Here we also recognise the different mentalities, those of the northern and southern countries. Our governments (starting with Schröder) have handled it well.” – Germany

“I find that in Germany, we are doing well. Even youth unemployment is relatively low here. We certainly need more reforms in order to stay competitive and safeguard our jobs.” – Germany

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• Finally, on the most important ques-tion for everyone: to be active or passive?

This is the third major finding: as the key issue in the coming years, partici-pants clearly cite the challenge for their countries to be, remain or once again become master of their own destiny. But once again, the ways of achieving this tend to differ.

In all the countries studied (including Germany) being the master of one’s own destiny means remaining in on the action, being involved in decisions made by the political elite rather than having them imposed. Among the variety of possible measures proposed in each country, two are massively

rejected throughout Europe – which is symbolic of this refusal to submit to policies that are controversial (France) or rejected (Spain, Italy), or to undergo a direct, automatic and unjustified loss in purchasing power (Germany, UK):

enduring a 10% increase in taxes: the feeling of being faced with a “tax overdose” is widespread but felt par-ticularly in France and Italy; enduring a 10% drop in income: not only in the places where income has already decreased (particularly in Spain) but also in France.

“I do not want higher taxes; we are already taxed on everything. I refuse to accept lower wages either; our wages are not increasing in line with inflation, and I’ve already suffered a pay cut.” France

In contrast, measures suggesting a greater ability to predict and control our lives are seen as more acceptable.

Training to improve job mobility is widely supported, particularly in Germany and the UK, where it appears as a condition of professionalism or a business requirement, but also in France, Italy and Germany:

“Those who want to do their job properly should always be learning and taking part in ongoing training. To live is to learn.” – Germany

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“I have also retrained twice in my working life and have never claimed unemployment.” - UK

“At the end of the day, flexibility and employee training are key for me. An employee must be able to question himself, to change jobs during his career, possibly moving geographically; in other words moving with our changing economy and society.” – France

“Re-training for a change in occupation, if the job is interesting financially speaking, then why not?…” – Italy

“Re-train for a change in occupation. It’s essential. Start anew or die.” – Spain

In the three Southern European countries, pushing back the retirement age is considered to be already official. “Taking retirement one or two years later” is not/is no longer a choice, but rather a reality that people must now live with in Spain and Italy, and a bleak but necessary prospect in France. Unlike in Germany and England, where people are not prepared to agree once more to sacrifices they have already made.

“Why would I retire later? I save money, I live within my means. Why penalise me for the incompetence of others?” - UK

“Retiring two or three years later? The labour market would be even fuller!” – Germany

“Taking retirement 1 or 2 years later: don’t kid yourself, it won’t end there, I’m getting ready, and frankly if it is only one or two years, it will be a lesser evil... if retirement even exists anymore.” – France

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“Unfortunately, and because I don’t have a choice, I am going to have to retire one or two years later.” – Spain

“Retiring a year or two later?That’s if we still have the right to a retirement, for these days it is almost impossible for use to retire (the amount of retirement continues to decrease, the number of years required for the right to retire is increasing, taxes continue to rise).” – Italy

Finally, the idea of building up a supplementary pension in order to grow old with “dignity” (the fear of not growing old with dignity is a major shared concern), is also frequently mentioned: it is also about being in control of one’s own life and future.

“As a freelancer it’s up to me to organize my pension. I get no help from the state.” – Germany

“In order to be a bit better off in retirement, I’ve made several investments and bought a property so as not to fall into poverty (I hope!).” – Germany

“I expect to have to save for my retirement, I would hate to be financially dependent on anyone at any time in the future” - UK

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“Individual savings are a necessity for planning for retirement but also all life’s little surprises (lower income at time of retirement or periods of unemployment, having children, illness, fewer healthcare reimbursements, paying for children’s education, etc.).” – France

“I think that, when it is time for us to retire (I am 35 at the moment), the coffers will be empty and there will be no money left for anyone; that’s why I’ve invested a bit in a pension fund, so I can make sure I’m comfortable in my old age.” – Italy

“In the 32 years of my career, I’ve always saved money during times of crisis, but if there is no more work, how are we supposed to save (or spend)?” – Spain

For everyone, then, being master of your own destiny means being more or less involved in decisions, even if those decisions are difficult to make. It is also about acting collectively. But yet again, Southern Europe and Northern Europe do this in different ways. While in Germany and the UK the solution entails combining indi-vidual responsibility with the will to create a shared future more or less

harmoniously and rationally, the solution in Italy, Spain and France is essentially individualistic. In the first case, efficiency is essential for fairness, and in the second, the pro-claimed desire for justice – the sanc-tions against elites and the “clean-up” envisaged in Italy and in Spain – is essential for action.

Date post:	03-Jul-2015
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