All Europeans think that their own country is the most compassionate, and nearly everyone judges the Germans to be the least compassionate, although both France and Germany gave that title to Britain.
Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, welcomed the findings, joking: “I am delighted that the Eurocrats have failed to crush national stereotyping, which is what makes Europe a great continent fashion news.”
The Pew report – which was based on surveys carried out in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland and the Czech Republic – concluded that the European Union was “the new sick man of Europe”.
The proportion of Europeans with a favourable view of the EU has plunged from 60 per cent last year to 45 per cent now.
The UK may be considered the most Eurosceptic country, but its support for the union has barely changed in the past 12 months, slipping only two points to 43 per cent.
By contrast, France’s backing for the EU has slipped dramatically, from 60 per cent last year to 41 per cent today.
On the politically charged question of whether to remain in the EU, Britons are split evenly, with 46 per cent wanting to leave the union and the same percentage wanting to stay overhead garage storage.
The Pew report’s authors said: “The prolonged economic crisis has created centrifugal forces that are pulling European public opinion apart, separating the French from the Germans and the Germans from everyone else.”
They added: "The effort over the past half century to create a more united Europe is now the principal casualty of the euro crisis. The European project now stands in disrepute across much of Europe.”
The only European leader rated highly by their own voters was the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received a 74 per cent approval rating.
Prime Minister David Cameron was next highest with a positive score of 37 per cent among the British public, although he can take some comfort from the fact that 58 per cent of Poles and half of all French people think he is doing a good job Neo skin lab.
Despite the gloomy economic outlook and growing disillusionment with the EU, there were strong majorities of more than 60 per cent in favour of keeping the Euro in the five countries polled that use the single currency.
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