Brussels, 29/07/2013 (Agence Europe) -15 countries of the EU have seen a fall in wages in real terms since the crisis began, whilst unemployment has been continually on the rise, affecting more than 26.5 million people in the EU.
This was revealed by the visual map unveiled on Monday 29 July by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI). Based on the recent report by ETUI, Benchmarking Working Europe, this info graphic illustrates the evolution of wages in the member states of the EU between 2000 and 2012. The most dramatic drops have been seen in the countries receiving financial assistance. The unhappy record belongs to Greece: wages in real terms fell by 4.883% between 2009 and 2012, with the hourly minimum wage plummeting by more than 24% in 2012.
“Wages are the principal target of austerity measures across Europe”, said the secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Bernadette Ségol. “They clearly became the key instrument or adjustment mechanism through an internal devaluation policy”. In Ireland and Portugal, wages have fallen in real terms, by 0.7219% and 1.6144% respectively. In Spain, they fell by 0.4509%, and the country is experiencing the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone (25%).
Of the countries reporting an increase in wages in real terms, France and Germany are top of the table, with increases of 0.75% and 0.53% respectively. Germany is the only country in the EU in which the unemployment rate has fallen, dropping from 7.5% to 5.5% between 2008 and 2012. However, both countries are overtaken by Bulgaria, where wages in real terms grew by more than 5% between 2009 and 2012. This, however, should not hide the fact that nearly half of the population (49%) is at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
This risk is one facing a growing proportion of the European population: 27% of the population in Spain in 2011, 24.4% in Portugal, 31% in Greece and Hungary, and up to 40% in Romania. According to the ETUC, the drop in wages “aggravated existing problems, by affecting the most vulnerable”. The Baltic states have also been hard hit, but have experienced a return to growth. In 2012, Estonia's GDP rose by 3.2%, following a sharp drop of 4.2% in 2008. Latvia's GDP grew by 5.6%.
Ten months ahead of the European elections, the ETUC says that “mass unemployment and a policy of cutting wages are a dangerous cocktail which jeopardises the citizens' support for the European project”. The ETUC calls on the European leaders to “change course as a matter of urgency, to restore growth and confidence”. (LM/transl.fl)