Replies

Yep, it is really good news.

I surely hope Gerhard Schroeder will be out of the Chancellery by the end of this November and whoever becomes the next French President after Jacques Chirac will be able to push economic liberalization.

Ping to our French and German friends for comments!

Chirac and Schröder are gone mad if they think that oppression is the way to more economic growth. It´s from my view too optimistic to expect Schröders removal of the Chancellery until December. I could imagine he had to go in February to give his party a new chance for the very important state elections in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germanys largest state with 18 million citizens. When the SPD is defeated there (their traditional powerhouse), the CDU opposition holds a 2/3 majority in the Upper House of the parliament, and therefore can veto all bills. This has never happened before, but if this comes, the Red-Greens have to ask for new elections. So, I ´ll give Schröder one year.

Let's be pragmatic, the whole point of the exercise is not to anger any EU member. The new members are democratic states whose officials are supposed to do what's best for their country and constituents.

I think Eastern Europe enters the EU game with an even hand. On areas like technology, they suffer from a lack of top-rated assets - but not on technical proficiency from their scientists, engineers and workers. So an obvious move is to propose major firms everywhere to benefit from this technology-capable manpower, along with tax incentives. This would help these nations develop their own technological assets.

On the other hand, France and Germany are obviously worried to see their modest growth endangered by a redeployment of foreign investment, and also by the shutting down of Franco-German plants that would reopen on Poland or the Czech Republic. They can't prevent this from happening, but they can signal their anxiousness to the EU so as to find a common middle ground. It's in a lesser scale, but it's more or less like a G-8 meeting where all the players try to reach an agreement for the overall strategy they will develop.

Me, I'm no big fan of a supranational EU. In fact, I don't see it happening because as Paul Kennedy put it it's the ongoing competition between the European powers that fueled the economical and social progress of the continent. So, I welcome an EU where the countries jockey to gain comparative advantages, it's what we elect our officials for, after all ! Of course, the competition must have limits, if only because our economies are intertwined and because the EU is supposed to be a cooperation forum.