Brussels, 26/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - It's a product stemming from the crisis - the EU is experiencing the emergence of a “new China” within its very own heart. This designation does not refer to the Asian model of success in terms of economic growth, but instead illustrates - through a growing divergence between the EU member states - the appearance of a geographically delimited area where the minimum salary is approaching that paid in some parts of China (or is not even as high) - as in the case in Bulgaria.
The latest publication from the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), “Benchmarking Working EUROPE 2013”, which was presented on Monday 22 April, focuses this year on a phenomenon which no longer belongs to the order of speculation, “but is a fact”, said ETUI's director general, Philippe Pochet. The EU is breaking up, despite the fact that the very essence of Europe is just the opposite - integration. This is a process which is gaining pace and becoming accentuated with the austerity policies, so that a three-league Europe is emerging.
The champions (because they hold the credit lines and secrets of innovation) are essentially France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries. In the middle league are those countries that support the top ones and are their sub-contractors - Spain, Italy and central Europe. Lastly, the Baltic states, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania are in the third league. At the same time, this “new China” is emerging, which is today guided by the objective of “race to the bottom competitiveness”. Deconstructing labour law, cutting salaries to lower the costs of production, and deregulating social protection are examples that, according to the report, challenge the compatibility between this approach and the resolve of the EU for convergence.
This growing divergence between the member states is “an operation unprecedented in the history of the EU”. The reasons are manifold and complex, but they can be summed up in one simple slogan - “wrong diagnosis, bad medicines”. The current recession and the austerity policies exacerbate the divergences, provoke crisis and social injustice, kill internal demand and pour oil on a fire which is already stoked by populism. These are the phenomena on which the report focuses at length, year by year. However, in the end, was the initial problem not found in the financial markets, the authors of the report ask provocatively. (JK/transl.fl)