Out of sight, out of mind

coffee time
Originally uploaded by Koffiemetkoek.

The European Union has recently been shaken by several incidents questioning the whole concept of a joint economic area. The French wish that the EU would do more to protect jobs staying in France and the Swedes are furious to the Commission because of an incident where a Commissioner criticised Sweden for forcing a a Latvian company to follow Swedish labour regulations when working in Sweden.

I opened my email this morning and there was the daily news bulletin from EuObserver. One headline stated: "Brussels to press for fund to fight globalisation effects".

I was excited. The EU is living up to the European Dream and investing more on development aid. Well, how naïve can you be. Quote from EU Observer:

According to the commission's draft, the fund would extend to €7 billion for the seven-year period, plus €4 billion in reserve of the common budget. But a diplomat from one of the new member states suggested that the poorer countries viewed it with suspicion from the moment it was first put on the table. "It seemed like the fund was there to serve a few rich countries, while the poorer states had meant to be squeezed by strict rules that would make it hard for them to use all the money they are allocated", he said.

Without knowing all the details, I am pissed. It says in the news brief that the fund would be meant for helping "citizens affected by globalisation". And the feeling I tend to get is that this means people like French workers.

Geez. How blind can you be? Or to be more precise, how twisted can your priorities be? People most seriously affected by globalisation are - at least based on my judgement - totally somewhere else than on this continent. I am not sure if keeping jobs on this continent at any cost is the "European social model" that I want. To put it in the words of a US liberal development economist Jagdish Bhagwati on a lecture last year in Amsterdam:"Is there really someone saying that the Chinese or the Africans do not need these jobs more badly than Europeans?"

But I guess if you build high enough walls around Fortress Europe, you avoid the uncomfortable feeling of having to react to problems outside your own home base.