According to a survey published on Sunday May 10, for 66% of French people, the government has not lived up to the coronavirus health crisis. According to the survey, our European neighbors are generally less critical of their executives.
- An ODOXA poll shows that two out of three French people consider that the government has not been up to the task of managing the health crisis
- It is a much more severe judgment with regard to power than in other European countries.
The angry French. As deconfinement gradually begins in France from this Monday, May 11, the population criticizes the government for its management of the coronavirus health crisis. According to an Odoxa-Dentsu Consulting survey conducted for France info and Le Figaro published Sunday, May 10, 66% of French people think that the government has not been up to the situation. We are therefore generally more critical of our policies than our neighbours, since in Europe (excluding France), on average, 51% of respondents believe that their government has been able to manage the crisis.
Only the Spaniards are angrier than us. Indeed, 67% of them believe that their executive has not been up to it. On the other hand, in Italy, the first European country to have suffered the full force of the epidemic, half of the respondents (50%) have a positive image of their government. In Germany, where the epidemic has been relatively contained since the start, the population is satisfied at 60% with the policy in force while in Great Britain, the respondents give favorable opinions at 63%.
In detail, three quarters of French people blame the government for not having told them the truth about the scale of the epidemic (75%), for not having been able to make the right decisions at the right time (74%) or of not having properly equipped hospitals and caregivers to deal with the virus (76%). They are also 76% to regret that the government was not clearer on the measures to be taken.
The French have a good image of mayors
In comparison, our neighbors are much less severe. Indeed, they are between 43% and 46% to trust their leaders, depending on the criteria. Overall, Germans place the most trust in the executive. On the other hand, it is clear that the French support the attitude of their mayors by 75% against 58% on average in Europe.
Outside of politics, the French are also critical of their fellow citizens. While two-thirds of Europeans (64%) consider that their peers have behaved well since the start of the epidemic, 61% of French people think the opposite.
However, the Europeans still agree on a few points. Overall, most of the respondents experienced the confinement well. In detail, 80% of French people say they have understood the fact of having to stay at home as much as possible well or very well, while 83% of Europeans (excluding French people) have experienced it fairly well (65%) or very well (18 %).
Fears about work
Finally, regarding the posture of companies, 69% of French people consider it favorable compared to 64% of Europeans. Despite everything, most populations are worried about their professional future. Thus, almost a third of Europeans (32%) fear losing their job because of the health crisis. If the Spaniards are the most worried (43%), the Italians and the French are not calm either on the question (respectively 38% and 28% of fears). Here again, the Germans are the most positive since only 17% of them have doubts about their professional future.
Illustrating the distrust of the French towards government policy during the crisis, these results are in line with those of previous surveys on the subject. According to one another Odoxa study produced for Franceinfo and Le Figaro, unveiled on May 6, 58% of respondents do not trust the government to succeed in deconfinement. In detail, the French are especially worried about public transport, 42% of them judging the level of security put in place “very unsatisfactory”.
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