[Opinion] The EU’s Dream

“The electricity at the Prime Minister’s residence, 10 Downing Street, is sent by a French company, the water by a German company, and gas by four countries, including England,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at a European Union meeting held last week at Brussels, Belgium. Britain is already enjoying the benefits of the opening of the European market, and free trade. The 25 countries of the European Union have come together again to form a United Europe’ through collaborative energy policies and a flexible labor market.

Will a mutual agreement be possible?-

French President Jacques Chirac’s exit on the first day of the meeting is an indication of the future. The reason he left was that a French businessman made a speech in English. He missed the comment, “Protection in the name of economic patriotism should be stopped,” as a result. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal said that a Europe that ignores global change and tries to protect it’s own countries is a “closed Europe.”

Six years ago, the strategy of “making Europe a world-class intelligence-based economy” was chosen by EU in Lisbon. According to this agreement, a flexible labor market, expansion of investment in education and research, and an opening of the service market should have happened long ago. However, due to a public that calls out “social justice” as a way to refuse reform, the economy of EU has fallen to the level of that of the United States in the late 1970s in almost all fields, such as national income, employment rates, and productivity.

The dreams of the EU might still not be achievable. Some say Europe must fall even lower if it is to get back on track. Even so, there is significant meaning in the EU meeting. It shows how economic problems are solved in the Global Age. A “flexicurity” policy combining both labor market flexibility with education and training will bring about development and employment.

British economist Anthony Giddens, who proposed the “Third Way” theory, said, “The European social model cannot be sustained.” Strangely, it is only Korea that keeps running backwards in time.