Macroscope | Europe has to break free of German policy domination
The continent has reached a defining moment in its new age of political, economic and monetary union and is crying out for radical change
European Union (EU) leaders may pay lip service to closer integration and better welfare for its 508 million citizens – but it is all a sham.
Policies remain biased in favour of the prosperous northern economies while the less well-off nations live in their shadow on meagre offerings from Brussels and Strasbourg. It is a situation which is unlikely to last for long.
Europe’s elite nations may be enjoying the best of the post-crisis recovery, but its distressed and poorer states still remain badly disadvantaged.
Slower growth, weaker productivity, stubbornly high unemployment and deep-rooted structural problems are condemning Europe’s weaker economies to lag further behind, unless they get a better deal on investment and resources heading their way. Europe needs a level playing field for the future.
The trouble is Europe is dictated too much on German terms.