I am truly worried about Europe. I am currently marking
essays on the effects of austerity on the eurozone. Perhaps two out of 250
students wrote that deeper integration of the EU would be a way out of the
crisis. As a Europeanist, I had always placed my hopes in my generation: a
generation of travellers and exchange students, a generation that loves to learn
new languages, a generation that experiences the achievements of European
integration every day when they use the euro. I read today that particularly the
youth of the European south is losing confidence in the European institutions.
In France the majority believes that European integration has harmed the French
economy. Austerity is devouring the backbone of this Union.
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| Europe's youth is becoming disillusioned |
One would think that the idea of austerity as a means to
resolve economic crises had been abandoned ages ago. John Maynard Keynes
understood in the 1930s that times of crisis require programmes to boost the
economy, and that do not suffocate it. Nevertheless, Europe has chosen the path
of austerity. When Germany’s unemployment surpassed reached nearly 5 million in
2005 (11,4%), the Schröder-government introduced austerity measures to fight
unemployment. Unemployment benefits were controversially cut quite radically, and
the German welfare system received a serious blow. Nevertheless, the policy was
afterwards justified by its success. Germany today has one of the lowest
unemployment rates in the EU, and it is among the few countries that have
survived the crisis relatively unscathed. Following the German example of the
2000s, countries lacking an industrial base embraced austerity, thereby
fulfilled conditions that allowed them to receive bail-outs from the IMF and
the eurozone. Germany is competing with China over the title of being the world’s
largest exporter. Its entire economy is built around exports. A policy that
keeps wages low has the same effect as the devaluation of one’s currency.
However, such policies only make sense if the economy is based on exports. The
economies of the European south are based on domestic consumptions – austerity is
bound to fail. The current German dominance in Europe is encouraging the
application of a model that is not applicable to economies like those of Spain
or Greece.
At the same time, unemployment skyrockets. Europe is largely
a post-industrial region with the lowest fertility rate in the word. Never has
there been a generation that is proportionally as tiny as mine. While 35% of
the population were below 20 in 1950, today merely 20% are below 20. I am part
of a small generation, but youth unemployment is higher than ever. Austerity
has caused youth unemployment in Spain to skyrocket from 17% in 2007 to over
50% in 2013. Greece, Portugal, Italy and Ireland have experienced similar
developments. The blame for this is inevitably and rightly directed at European
leaders. Instead of regulating a banking industry that has caused the crisis in
the first place, it was decided in the European Council to implement austerity
measures that have crippled half the continent. The European Council is an
intergovernmental institution that it dominated by the strongest member states,
and most Europeans have no say about who leads those member states. There is a
time for any emotion, and if you understand what is going on here, you have
every right to feel frustration, helplessness, and also anger, against the
incompetence, coldness and supposed hyper-rationality of the politicians of our
time.
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| Youth unemployment in the EU |
In the the Bible says that a people without vision are doomed. I had always thought that the unification of Europe could provide this vision - I see it not only as a vision for Europeans, but for all of humanity, because it proves that people can work together, and that national divisions are insignificant. This EU has no chance to survive unless its institutions are
fundamentally reformed, allowing for a European government that is
democratically elected by all Europeans. Austerity is not the choice of
Europeans – democracy in the EU is also in crisis. Austerity turning the tides
against European integration, and if you believe that the crisis is over, think
again.
Harald Köpping
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