A picture of Germany. Germans are the gloomiest people in Europe according to a major new study of the 27 nations in the European Union.

Germans are the gloomiest people in Europe according to a major new study of the 27 nations in the European Union.

The report, released by the European Commission, confirms what many Germans had themselves long suspected –­ they are masters of moaning.

Asked if life would be better in 20 years time, just 20 per cent of Germans could bring themselves to agree. In happy-go-lucky Estonia, which topped the chart, 78 per cent of people look at the future through rose-tinted spectacles.

"Estonian citizens were the most optimistic," noted the report, which polled 25,000 people across the EU. "The Germans, on the other hand, were the least optimistic ­– only one in five expected that life in Germany would improve in the long-term."

Britons were revealed as a touch more sceptical about future prospects than the average European, 49 per cent of whom think life will be worse in 20 years.

The study focused on "quality of life" issues such as schooling and job prospects, age of retirement and whether people would be able to afford medical costs or even a reasonable place to live.

It found that while new members of the EU, mostly from central and eastern Europe, were mostly of the view that life would get better and better, established members of the EU were almost all miserable.

Of pre-2004 EU members only the Irish and the Swedes managed to look on the bright side of life.

In fact, length of EU membership appears strongly related to a gloomy outlook. The six founder members of the EU occupy four of the five bottom spots on the future happiness chart, according the poll.

While Germans are the most mired in despair, they are closely followed by the Belgians, the Luxembourgers and the French.