Please Not Social Dumping

With hearts aflutter at the thought of a French Non, Jacques (Mr Kickback) has been taking advantage of the issue with a new attack against Les Liberals.

Jacques Chirac, French president, won backing on Tuesday from European Union leaders for a significant rewrite of laws to open up Europe's services market, amid fears the issue could wreak havoc in the French referendum on the EU constitution.

We cannot accept true competition in the EU, a concept much too crass for the nation of sophisticates whose national champions all require a drip feed and that produces more films that no one wants to see each year than any competitor. Besides competition could lead to catastrophe.

Mr Chirac persuaded EU leaders that any new services directive should protect key public services from competition and eliminate the risk of “social dumping” by companies based in eastern Europe.

Social dumping, is that anything like Fly tipping? So without the services directive how can we meet the Lisbon targets?

The summit quickly rubber-stamped reforms to the EU's stability and growth pact, which weaken the fiscal rules to allow countries facing downturns to borrow more to invest.

So No to competition, Yes to government borrowing. That will not go a long way to making Europe competitive. In fact expect Europe to continue in its time honoured economic illiteracy until Germany or France totally collapses. Then as the UK found out in the 80’s there is no other choice but reform.