ed316
04-14-2006, 04:36 PM
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Editorial: The sick man is Europe
April 13, 2006
Events in France and Italy point to a dismal future
CONTINENTAL Europe is at a crossroads. No, scratch that. Continental Europe was at a crossroads a few years ago. This week, it appears to have chosen its path. Taken together, the results of Italy's general election (which turfed out an economic reformer in favour of a former EU president) and the French Government's cave-in to rioters protesting against employment law reform suggest that the strongest forces in Europe today are those of appeasement, stasis and socialism. In Italy, voters were faced with a choice between media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, who was swept into office five years ago promising to cure the country's economic troubles, and the centre-left Romano Prodi, whose campaign was tinged with anti-Americanism. Certainly, Mr Berlusconi did not do himself any favours with his flamboyant campaign style. But the choice of Mr Prodi suggests Italy will turn its back on its alliance with the US and Mr Berlusconi's economic reforms. Italy's 24 per cent youth unemployment, anaemic growth (the lowest among industrialised nations) and broader malaise – demonstrated by a shrinking birth rate and armies of adults who live with their parents well into their 30s for lack of career-track jobs – will be major challenges for Mr Prodi's fragile nine-party coalition. These poll results will also be interpreted by Islamic fundamentalists as further Western capitulation to the threat of terrorism – recall the Madrid train bombings in 2003, which caused Spain's then pro-US government to be ousted. Mr Berlusconi was a fierce defender of Western liberalism and the US who deployed troops to Iraq despite massive public opposition. Mr Prodi, on the other hand, famously responded to the Madrid bombings by saying: "It is clear using force is not the answer to resolving the conflict with terrorists."
In France, meanwhile, riots in the heart of Paris have seen the Government abandon the most minor of economic reforms. Coming on the heels of last year's nationwide violence led by young Muslims from isolated urban ghettos, or banlieus, the latest round of protests was driven by middle-class whites opposed to a proposed law that would have encouraged employers to take on young workers by making it easier to sack poor performers. The mob won and the Government caved: Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin scrapped the plan on Tuesday. Bad as that result was, the violence is symptomatic of France's deeper problems. A recent survey of 15- to 30-year-olds indicated that 76 per cent of French youth dream of becoming fonctionnaires – 35-hour-a-week civil servants with virtually lifetime employment. The riots, in essence, were not for change (as they were last year) but for stasis. But this stasis, which seeks government insulation from any and all risk, is unsustainable. And in giving in to the mobs, France has sent a powerful and dangerous message that violence gets results. None of this is good news for Europe. At a bare minimum, the past week's events suggest that this is a part of the world where no one is capable of facing reality. It also suggests a broader lack of cultural confidence. Europeans are not having children at replacement rates any more; birth rates are supported largely by Muslim immigrants. And that community's more radical members are increasingly flexing their political muscle in the face of a timorous host culture. An example is the fallout of the Danish cartoon controversy. In what was essentially a battle between theocratic and Enlightenment values, the theocrats largely won. Yes, there are some hopeful signs, such as Chancellor Andrea Merkel's reform-oriented leadership in Germany. But economic reforms can only go so far towards curing the deadening malaise at the heart of European society.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18800084-7583,00.html
Editorial: The sick man is Europe
April 13, 2006
Events in France and Italy point to a dismal future
CONTINENTAL Europe is at a crossroads. No, scratch that. Continental Europe was at a crossroads a few years ago. This week, it appears to have chosen its path. Taken together, the results of Italy's general election (which turfed out an economic reformer in favour of a former EU president) and the French Government's cave-in to rioters protesting against employment law reform suggest that the strongest forces in Europe today are those of appeasement, stasis and socialism. In Italy, voters were faced with a choice between media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, who was swept into office five years ago promising to cure the country's economic troubles, and the centre-left Romano Prodi, whose campaign was tinged with anti-Americanism. Certainly, Mr Berlusconi did not do himself any favours with his flamboyant campaign style. But the choice of Mr Prodi suggests Italy will turn its back on its alliance with the US and Mr Berlusconi's economic reforms. Italy's 24 per cent youth unemployment, anaemic growth (the lowest among industrialised nations) and broader malaise – demonstrated by a shrinking birth rate and armies of adults who live with their parents well into their 30s for lack of career-track jobs – will be major challenges for Mr Prodi's fragile nine-party coalition. These poll results will also be interpreted by Islamic fundamentalists as further Western capitulation to the threat of terrorism – recall the Madrid train bombings in 2003, which caused Spain's then pro-US government to be ousted. Mr Berlusconi was a fierce defender of Western liberalism and the US who deployed troops to Iraq despite massive public opposition. Mr Prodi, on the other hand, famously responded to the Madrid bombings by saying: "It is clear using force is not the answer to resolving the conflict with terrorists."
In France, meanwhile, riots in the heart of Paris have seen the Government abandon the most minor of economic reforms. Coming on the heels of last year's nationwide violence led by young Muslims from isolated urban ghettos, or banlieus, the latest round of protests was driven by middle-class whites opposed to a proposed law that would have encouraged employers to take on young workers by making it easier to sack poor performers. The mob won and the Government caved: Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin scrapped the plan on Tuesday. Bad as that result was, the violence is symptomatic of France's deeper problems. A recent survey of 15- to 30-year-olds indicated that 76 per cent of French youth dream of becoming fonctionnaires – 35-hour-a-week civil servants with virtually lifetime employment. The riots, in essence, were not for change (as they were last year) but for stasis. But this stasis, which seeks government insulation from any and all risk, is unsustainable. And in giving in to the mobs, France has sent a powerful and dangerous message that violence gets results. None of this is good news for Europe. At a bare minimum, the past week's events suggest that this is a part of the world where no one is capable of facing reality. It also suggests a broader lack of cultural confidence. Europeans are not having children at replacement rates any more; birth rates are supported largely by Muslim immigrants. And that community's more radical members are increasingly flexing their political muscle in the face of a timorous host culture. An example is the fallout of the Danish cartoon controversy. In what was essentially a battle between theocratic and Enlightenment values, the theocrats largely won. Yes, there are some hopeful signs, such as Chancellor Andrea Merkel's reform-oriented leadership in Germany. But economic reforms can only go so far towards curing the deadening malaise at the heart of European society.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18800084-7583,00.html