The chronic unemployment that afflicts continental Europe sparked rioting on the streets of one EU founder-member this year and brought down the government of another.
The trouble in France began as a violent protest against the deaths of two Muslim teenagers who were being pursued by police. It quickly developed into an uprising fed by the broader grievances of unemployment and racial discrimination felt by residents of the deprived immigrant suburbs, or banlieues, that ring many major French cities.
French unemployment averaged 10 per cent for the year, according to Eurostat, the European Commission's statistical office but the figure in immigrant communities is variously estimated at between 30 per cent and 50 per cent. By comparison, the average jobless rate across the EU stood at about 8.5 per cent for the year while the lowest rates - at about 4.5 per cent - were in Ireland and Britain.
In a recent report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development forecast that French unemployment would average 9.6 per cent next year and warned 'sustained labour market liberalisation' would be needed to achieve any substantial cut in the jobless rate.
After initial reluctance to treat the rioting as anything other than a law and order issue, the government outlined a raft of proposals to improve the lot of those from France's former colonies, covering job counselling and educational grants.
But Danielle Joly, a Britain-based academic specialising in ethnic relations in France, says the measures fail to address the root cause of the unemployment problem: racism. 'These kids are the children of immigrants and they are French - culturally they are incredibly integrated so they expect to be treated like everyone else,' she said. 'But they know if they apply for a job alongside a white person, they won't get it.'
