“THE grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” originates from a Latin phrase, quoted by Ovid, to do with envying another man’s fruitful harvest. Fittingly, modern day Italians also have a chlorophyll-tinted view of their neighbours. According to new data from Livewhat, a Geneva-based survey, Ovid’s successors tend to believe that life is better in other countries than the locals do. Over 70% of Italians imagine life to be good in France, when asked to rate it on a scale from one to ten, whereas only 43% of the French have the same opinion.

The Italians are a self-critical bunch, but romanticised views of other countries are widely held in Europe. In all of the countries surveyed, more people believe that life in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland is better than those countries’ own citizens reckon.

This creates odd perceptions, built on mutual jealousy. The Swiss think that the Swedes fare best in Europe; Swedes are quite certain that the Swiss are the truly enviable ones.

By contrast, Europe’s poorer countries are cast in a dim light: many think life in Greece and Poland is unhappier than it is. Other Europeans view Poland poorly, while Poles have the most favourable view of their neighbours. This may explain why 0.1% of Poland’s population—among the lowest rates in Europe—is made up of people from elsewhere in the EU, and why there are 1.5m Poles living in Germany and Britain alone.

Alas, some intra-European crushes go unrequited. According to a survey by Lord Ashcroft, a British pollster, Scandinavian countries tend to be the best-liked in Europe. Within this select clique, the Swedes are the most popular of all, with 84% of respondents holding a favourable view of the country. Poor Romania, meanwhile, has the fewest fans on the continent, with less than a third of Europeans rating it positively. And the countries that like Romania the least? Croatia… and Sweden.