The French – descendants of the Gauls, who thought the sky would fall on their heads – are among the most gloomy, distrustful and pessimistic people in Europe, according to an official study.

They may live in le beau pays, home to stunning scenery, historic architecture and some of the finest gastronomy invented by mankind but they foresee catastrophe at every turn.

The study of national moods across Europe, commissioned by François Fillon, the French Prime Minister, illustrates the dark – and largely irrational – side of the Gallic soul.

Although France is by many yardsticks a pleasant country, according to the research by the Centre of Strategic Analysis, its inhabitants are unhappy with their lot and convinced that things are going to get worse.

The study was ordered as the French contribution to a plan by Brussels to assess “social reality” in the European Union.

The gulf between the hard facts and the subjective vision of the French was highlighted by the United Nations Development Index, which rates countries on the basis of literacy, life expectancy, education and standard of living. This placed France above the EU average and fractionally ahead of Britain.

But when asked in a second survey to evaluate their standard of living, only 16 per cent of the French said that they were very satisfied – the lowest of any Western European country. The figure in Britain was 40 per cent.

French fear of the future was underlined by another survey, which found that 86 per cent of the population thought poverty could strike at any time, compared with 65 per cent in Britain and 62 per cent across the EU.

Only 8 per cent of respondents believed that their children would lead easier lives than they did, compared with 16 per cent of Britons and 57 per cent of Portuguese.

“The French are most fearful and complain the most although the country is not doing too badly,” said Julien Damon, head of the department of social affairs at the Centre for Strategic Analysis.

As well as losing faith in their institutions, they were even despairing about humanity itself, the study found. Only 22 per cent of French people said that they could trust others most of the time, far less than the EU average of 30 per cent and the British rating of 36 per cent, for instance.

The French also had less confidence in their police, their courts, their unions and their MPs than the British. Even their own homes did not escape their angst, with les Français less satisfied with their families than most other EU countries, including Britain.

The malaise stems from two decades of high unemployment – between 8 and 12 per cent – which has spread anxiety even among workers unlikely to the lose their jobs, the researchers said.

Mr Damon said that this was compounded by the disappearance of the old French social model “founded in 1945 on the basis of full employment and a family cell where monsieur works and madame stays at home to look after the children”.

Worse, the high taxes and generous benefits that accompanied this model had proved to be a disadvantage in today’s economy, he added.

The result is fuelling a disposition for despondency, which has been a literary theme for centuries.

What percentage of people think they are likely to face poverty?
(EU average 62%)

France 86%
UK 65%
Italy 55%
Sweden 43%

What percentage of people think they are likely to experience homelessness?
(EU average 6.2%)

France 13%
UK 8%
Germany 2%
Denmark 1%

Source: Eurobarométre

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