Wiener Zeitung, Vienna – Cartoon. See more.
Editorial
Transition or decision? After 2012, the year in which the euro was supposed to collapse, it is tempting to predict what 2013 has in store for Europe’s citizens, even if it means running the risk of being wrong. Here is a quick review of some of the main trends that will have a long-term impact on political and daily life in the European Union.
The event of the year will be the general election in Germany, which will most likely be held on September 22. Angela Merkel, who continues to enjoy record approval ratings, has a good chance of being re-elected for a third term as chancellor. She would therefore maintain the European austerity policy which is popular with her voters.
However, at the same time, she would also need stability, which could favour a policy of European Central Bank intervention in the debt crisis. Although unpopular with the Berlin government and the Bundesbank, previous interventions have shown that such a policy can calm the markets and grant a respite to Germany’s most important and vulnerable partners, ie: Italy, Spain and France.
And speaking of Italy, there will be a lot at stake in the elections due to be held there on February 24 and 25. Will “technocrat” Mario Monti be able to continue governing the country without being elected but with support from a coalition of centrist parties? Italy can be a testing ground for two questions that will be important for all Europe: Will an austerity policy that is in line with the expectations of financial markets and international partners be sufficient to put the country back on track? Can a technocratic government succeed in reconciling the economic and democratic needs of a society?
In the meantime, the British — and many other Europeans — will continue to question their place in the EU. In spite of the persistent demands from the eurosceptic wing of of his party, UK Prime Minister David Cameron will likely avoid taking on the historic responsibility of calling into question his country’s membership of the European Union. However, this issue will certainly weigh on negotiations for the 2014-2020 European budget, as it will on the management of the crisis, and in turn on the institutional future of the EU.
It will be even more awkward for Cameron to cut ties with the continent now that the United Kingdom is preparing for a referendum on the future of Scotland in 2014. And Britain is not alone in facing the spectre of secession that has also been awakened in Belgium, where Flemish nationalists will be preparing for federal elections in 2014, and in Spain, where Catalan politicians will be attempting to create the most favourable conditions for the organisation of a referendum on the independence of the region, also slated for 2014.
Catalan aspirations, which could challenge the manner in which the region participates in the financing of the federal state, will likely add to Spain’s vulnerability. With unemployment at almost 25 per cent and a much weakened banking sector, the country will continue to be the weak link in Europe and a focal point for the economic and social ills that have beset the continent, putting to one side the extreme situation in Greece.
Above and beyond the political trends, the social context and the living conditions of Europe’s 500 million citizens will have to be closely monitored throughout the year. Regardless of the decisions taken in Brussels and Frankfurt, and positive movement in stock market and macro-economic charts, the future of the EU will be shaped in the factories, offices, hospitals and streets of a continent that is increasingly populated by victims of the crisis.
Project Syndicate, Prague – Ahead of the 2014 European Parliament elections, the EU could learn much from the recent US presidential vote regarding how to engage with its citizens, gain legitimacy and achieve a louder voice on the international stage. See more.
“Europe is seeking to hire the best brains,” reports Die Welt. Between now and 2020, an entire generation of European civil servants will retire. Thousands of posts, the equivalent of one third of the current EU workforce, will have to be filled in European institutions. The Commission alone will have to replace 10,000 of its 35,000 employees.
However, while the EU believes that it is legitimate to woo highly qualified individuals with exceptionally good working conditions — extra holidays, tax-free bonuses, ample salaries — these privileges enjoyed by its civil servants do not escape criticism, notes the daily —
The Taxpayers Association of Europe is railing against civil servants helping themselves. British Prime Minister David Cameron wants to cut billions from the EU’s wages budget. And the CSU [the Bavarian branch of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats] has taken advantage of a shortage of news during the holiday season to publicise a demand to get rid of 15 of the 27 European commissioners. […] When member states are forced to make savings, say its critics, the EU should not be an exception.
The Union spends 6 per cent of its budget on its own administrative staff of 44,000 civil servants — 55,000 if you count temporary and short-term contracts. In 2011, €8.2bn was spent funding this apparatus. And, as Die Welt reports —
There is a high level of interest for well-paid jobs, especially at time of economic crisis. […] In particular, there has been an upsurge in the number of applications submitted by candidates in Southern Europe.
“America turns European”, jokes The Economist on a cover featuring US President Barack Obama and the Republican House Speaker John Boehner dressed as a Frenchman and German respectively. “For the past three years America’s leaders have looked on Europe’s management of the euro crisis with barely disguised contempt,” observes the British weekly, comparing the 11th hour US deal to dodge the “fiscal cliff”, with Europe’s handling of the euro crisis.
Washington shows a “pattern of dysfunction [that] is disturbingly similar to the euro zone’s”, says The Economist. Both the US and EU seem unable to move beyond short term fixes usually negotiated well after midnight, it adds, and points to the oversized influence of some individuals or groups in negotiating the final deals. The newspapers also criticises the US and Europe for failing to be honest with voters, saying –
Just as Chancellor Angela Merkel and President François Hollande have avoided coming clean to the Germans and the French about what it will take to save the single currency, so neither Mr Obama nor the Republican leaders have been brave enough to tell Americans what it will really take to fix the fiscal mess. […] As it has failed to deal with the single currency, Europe’s standing has crumbled in the world. Why should developing countries trust American leadership, when it seems incapable of solving anything at home? And while the West’s foremost democracy stays paralysed, China is making decisions and forging ahead.
Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen – As they celebrate the 40th anniversary of entry into the European Union, Danes are weighing up the pros and cons. To persuade fellow Danes that the Union can still benefit Denmark, all the country's political forces should come together and propose daring new ideas, writes Berlingske. See more.
La Libre Belgique, Brussels – Cartoon. See more.
NRC Handelsblad, Amsterdam – The last minute negotiations in Washington to avoid a budget shortfall show that short-termism is well grounded in US politics. And by contrast, it shows that despite her controversial handling of the euro crisis, the German chancellor is wise enough to instead push for long-term solutions. See more.
“War over the list” headlines To Ethnos. Former finance minister, Giorgos Papakonstantinou, who is accused of excising the names of his close family from the „Lagarde List“ of Swiss bank account holders, will shortly face a parliamentary inquiry. However, the investigation will not be enough to satisfy the members of the radical left coalition Syriza, which is publicly accusing another former finance minister and the current leader of the Pasok socialist party, Evangelos Venizelos, of attempting to hide the list.
For Ta Nea, the “polarisation of the parties” could blow apart a number of political movements: in particular Pasok, which has been extensively implicated in the scandal, and whose approval rating plunged from 49 per cent to 7 per cent between the 2009 and 2012 elections. “The party which supports the government is waiting for backing from the prime minister,” notes the daily.
However, the rules of “political procedures will require investigation of political figures” implicated by the list. To Vima remarks —
The affair has highlighted the mores of those in power and revealed the attitudes that prevail in the management of scandals. For many observers, the affair has drawn attention to the basic political problem of this country, which is the arbitrary status of politicians and the protection of the powerful. Having said that, it is extremely important that criminal or civil cases be conducted without paralysing the government or diverting it from its principal mission, which is the stabilisation of the economy and the resumption of development. The government and all of the political parties must protect the climate of economic stabilisation. However, this does not mean they should not be extensively questioned on all aspects of the political scandal that has been prompted by the Lagarde List.
There is „poison in containers“ arriving at European ports, warns French daily Le Monde. Out of a million containers unloaded each week, the paper explains, „15 to 20 per cent contain fumes that are extremely dangerous, carcinogenic or neurotoxic“ and these substances „endanger a whole series of people, from workers […] to the consumers themselves.“
The presence of the fumes is, in part, explained by fumigation operations aimed at „eliminating moulds and vermin during transport“. Another reason for the presence of these poisons: the goods themselves release gases and vapours. Clothing made in Asia often contains benzene- and toluene-based solvents, both of which are carcinogenic.
Although France began taking measures in 2011 to diminish the health risks linked to exposure to the toxins, including a minimum airing time and the use of masks, gloves and goggles, these are deemed „insufficient and ill-adapted by the trade unions,“ Le Monde notes, comparing the French case with the situation in Belgium and the Netherlands:
Agreements between employers and unions require that the level of the fumes be monitored systematically as soon as their presence is suspected. Dutch customs officials require a certificate confirming the absence of toxic fumes time-stamped less than two hours before their services are called upon. Jan De Jong, leader of Dutch trade union confederation FNV Bondgenoten is calling on governments to go further by taking action at the source to ban certain chemicals world-wide.