A coronavirus pandemic that broke out in 2020 posed major public health and economic challenges for the European Union and national governments alike. By the end of 2022, the intensity of the pandemic across Europe had eased thanks to vaccination programmes and public efforts, but public concern about the pandemic, although reduced compared to previous years, remains high in European societies.

59% of European citizens expressed concern about the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, but there are significant differences between countries. Italians (68%), Swedes (67%) and Spaniards (66%) are most concerned about the pandemic situation, while the lowest levels of public concern are recorded in Hungary (44%), Kosovo (41%) and Albania (38%). The perception of government performance in dealing with the coronavirus epidemic is generally positive in Europe, but there are also significant differences between countries on this issue. The majority of citizens (55%) in the 38 European countries surveyed in the second half of 2022 were satisfied with the way their own government handled the epidemic situation, and in Hungary, the level of satisfaction was above the European average (59%).