Aliki Mouriki
In particular, Greek citizens in their majority express their strong dissatisfaction for the pensions
(GR: 91% - EU-27: 58%), the way inequalities and poverty are addressed in Greece (GR: 89% - EU-
27: 67%), the unemployment benefits (GR: 89% - EU-27: 51%), the way public administration runs
in Greece (GR: 89% - EU-27: 55%), and the health care provision in the country (GR: 78% - EU-27:
43%). Moreover:
• 77% of Greeks seem not to trust their national governments, as opposed to 32% of
Dutch citizens, 38% of Danes and 49% of Spaniards (EU-27:61%). The current Greek
negative rate (i.e. distrust) is the 3rd highest of the entire survey sample;
• 7 out of 10 Greek citizens state not to trust their national Parliament, as compared to
only 25% of Danes and 40% of Spaniards (ΕU-27: 58%);
• a high rate of distrust is recorded by the Greek respondents who take a negative stand-
point vis-à-vis political parties, 86%, as compared to 46% in Denmark and 64% in Spain
(EU-27: 75%). The Greek negative rate is the 4th highest of the entire survey following the
ones of Latvia (91%), Portugal (89%,) Croatia (86%) and Bulgaria (86%);
• a majority of Greek citizens expresses feelings of distrust toward the regional or local
public authorities (GR: 66%, DK:30%, EU-27: 44%) as well as the legal system of the
country (GR: 56%, DK:20%, EU-27: 47%).
By contrast, the EU bodies enjoy the confidence of almost 6 out of 10 Greek citizens, substan-
tially above the EU average (GR: 58%, EU-27:47%). Trust is further expressed toward the European
bodies, i.e. European Parliament (GR: 59%, EU-27: 51%), European Commission (GR: 56%, EU-27:
47%), Council of the European Union (GR: 56%, EU-27: 42%), and the European Central Bank
(GR: 51%, EU-27: 48%).
Expectations from the future
A growing pessimistic attitude towards the future of the national and global economy and the
problems of inflation and unemployment is now shared by the majority of the European citizens,
although concern is more pronounced in countries with a weaker economic performance. The pro-
portion of the population that considers that the situation is good has fallen dramatically during the
past few months, regarding both the European and the national economy. Over half of Europeans
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