According to Autumn 2011 Standard Eurobarometer, Europeans still consider the European Union as the most effective actor in giving solutions to the crisis. About 23% of European citizens see the EU more effective in tackling the effects of the crisis than national governments and international organizations. All this despite general confidence has fallen significantly.

The confidence put by Europeans in the actions taken by their national governments against the crisis remains constant at around 20%, and increases by two points in the case of the action taken by the G20, achieving 16% of the population. However, according to the Autumn 2011 Standard Eurobarometer, Europeans believe that the action of the International Monetary Fund has not been as effective and show one point of decrease in relation to the previous barometer.

European citizens also consider that the impact of the crisis on employment has not yet reached its highest point, and only 23% of them consider it has done so. On the other hand, despite the large differences in the perception of the situation of national economies depending on member states, over the last six months there has been a slight decline in the number of citizens who see the economies of their country in a positive way. In general, less that 5% of Greek, Irish and Spanish citizens believe the situation is good, over the 75% in Sweden, Luxembourg and Germany.

Although the majority of Europeans believe that the economic situation of their households is still good, this group of citizens has been reduced by 4% since the last poll, now standing at 61%. However, this European average also presents significant differences, from 90% of Swedes who are in a positive situation and 24% in the case of Greek citizens.