According to the European Commission’s spring forecasts, just released today, the economic recovery is taking hold. After seven years of economic under-performance, and with the European economy still 2% smaller than it was seven years ago, this news is long overdue.
The recovery has arrived because Europe has taken a break from the policies of austerity and internal wage devaluation. By easing the pace of deficit reduction as well as the pace of structural reforms, growth has finally been given a fighting chance. This, together with falling oil prices, has boosted aggregate demand.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) warns policy-makers not to put the recovery at risk by shifting back to the old approach. If the same policies of austerity and wage devaluation are repeated, the same results will follow, and the recovery will falter again.
“Europe needs a sustainable recovery, not just a temporary bounce. Europe still needs a substantial investment plan to transform the recovery into a robust process” says Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary.
