Main focus of Thursday, March 4, 2010

The EU prescribes itself a dose of growth

The European Union is to become more economically stable, more successful in education policy and more environmentally friendly. These are the aims of the new "Europe 2020" growth strategy which EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso presented on Wednesday in Brussels. But the goals don't go far enough and fail to provide the groundwork for a European economic government, writes the press.

Der Standard - Austria

With the presentation of the EU growth strategy for 2020 in Brussels, calls for a common economic government have gained strength. But leaders like French Present Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angella Merkel both mean something different with the phrase, writes the daily Der Standard: "The European Union has reached a state of reciprocal solidarity (and dependency), and now a fundamental decision is called for: Should integration go even further, should national states be curtailed (which was the idea behind the French notion of "economic government")? This is the variant traditionally favoured by the European Commission and the EU Parliament. Or should Europe go in the other direction, with the individual states joining forces and taking the most important decisions independently of the EU's institutions in the European Council, comprising the heads of state and government? There the powerful countries would dominate. This variant is what Merkel means by 'EU government'." (04/03/2010)

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Lidové noviny - Czech Republic

The conservative daily Lidové noviny finds little good to say about the EU's "Europe 2020" strategy, recalling the bon mot by former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt: "A politician who starts having visions should consult a doctor": "But what to do if the entire EU Commission starts having visions? The document assumes that the crisis needs greater economic coordination - meaning the transition to a European economic government. At first glance the Commission's goals look great, but they conceal concrete political disputes. For that reason alone the document deserves a full and proper debate. For its part the Commission sees the paper as a sort of treasure that should be approved by the heads of state and government as early as next month if possible. But luckily some are being more reserved with their comments, for example Angela Merkel. She recommends her colleagues should dream less of a European economic government and focus first on cutting costs at home." (04/03/2010)

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El País - Spain

The EU's new economic strategy prompts Xavier Vidal-Folch to ask in the left-liberal daily El País who is really in charge: "Let's be frank: it is a shameful document, because its immediate goals are minimalist (while the crisis continues to be maximal!). And because the method of attaining them is pitiful. It is an epistle that is better formulated than others but confined to making recommendations. It does not make stipulations. What the EU needs, as the crisis has shown since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, is 'government of the economy', an economic government. Someone at the helm who gives binding orders." (04/03/2010)

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