Within 10 days
meet EU leaders (EU) to realize its economic governance. The summit will mark a before and after, since few of them have had a content as decisive for the future. The first paradox is that, as has always happened in the EU, the results have been determined by a crisis, in this case as brutal as the sovereign debt, which has been questioned monetary union around the euro. Again, the EU has made a virtue of necessity.
Spain is committed to further adjustments in the public deficit and negotiation collective. At that summit will be to consolidate a few days ago agreed at the meeting of the Eurogroup of 17 countries: in exchange for expanding and flexible mechanism to help countries in trouble (440,000 million euros of effective provision, which may be used directly buying debt of countries affected by speculation without having to pay exorbitant interest rates) is established structural economic policy, called the Covenant by the Euro, which includes a linking of wages to productivity, greater control deficit, increasing the retirement age, plans to recapitalize banks in difficulty and progressive reduction and annual public debt.
Although tempered by the intervention of the authorities, this policy is an endorsement of the hard line (of rigor wage, fiscal adjustment, financial restructuring, working conditions, ...) by Mrs Merkel, with great difficulty at home to convince the Germans that they have to pay more money to support the peripheral countries out of its economic problems.
The second paradox reflected the Commission Vice European Joaquín Almunia, when he declared in Le Monde that the greatest difficulties in bank restructuring in the country are required to force its European partners to undertake major reforms as quickly.
Spain left the summit of the Eurogroup with more short-term obligations to fulfill. Never before has so crudely expressed lack of autonomy of national economic policy. Taken for granted, which is very generous, has launched the labor reform of public pensions and the financial system, Zapatero is going to confront, immediately, with two new problems to stiffer Budget Stability Law (which primarily affect the autonomous communities, with new anti-deficit provisions) and change the rules of collective bargaining to make more explicit the link between wages and productivity, limiting the level of centralization of processes bargaining and indexation of wages, which means the applause of the employers and the enemy of unions.
The president said he will announce new reforms in the next European summit on 24 and 25, which means no extension in the negotiations between the operators and social (which theoretically have to end on Saturday) and if not agree, determine its content in an executive. Furthermore, since the agency Moody's has downgraded the rating of Spain expressing his suspicions about the tax effort of state government, is to provide another source of tension with them. For this, ZP has 10 days and one regular Cabinet in the middle.
The third paradox has to do with the contents of economic governance. There is general agreement on the need, but a thorough debate on its consequences for citizens. The president of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, who has struggled to both the European Union is not merely a monetary union, described the annual growth pact filed by Durão Barroso as "the most reactionary document ever produced by the Commission." And the measures to reduce unemployment in Europe, affecting 23 million people have simply disappeared from the field. Not even a rhetorical reference to employment as a priority area.
far as is known, the economic governance means a new twist on the living conditions of the majority. Let's see how they explain it.
article Joaquín Estefanía (El País 3.14.2011)
Source: Elpais.com
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