Charlemagne: Single-market blues

"Recession is bringing fresh threats to Europe’s single marketIN FRANCE railway crossings are adorned with a small lesson for a life of gnomic brevity. “One train can conceal another,” is the message printed on warning signs. It is a motto that supporters of free trade should remember as they scan the horizon for threats to the European Union’s greatest achievement: the borderless single market. Those watching out for protectionism have plenty to alarm them, right before their eyes. But the biggest threats to the single market are those hidden from view.Start with the visibly alarming. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, an express train in human form, has hinted that billions of euros in aid for the French car industry should be made conditional on keeping production in France (and perhaps on buying French-made components, unnamed aides have briefed). There has been no less furious tooting and whistling from politicians in such places as Spain, Britain and Greece as they nag bailed-out bankers to lend first to domestic businesses and households. The Greeks publicly “advised” banks to be “more prudent” about transferring bail-out funds to Balkan subsidiaries. A nasty industrial dispute, sparked when Italian and Portuguese workers were posted to an English oil refinery, led one British minister to urge changes to EU law to stop foreigners undercutting Brits. ..." (2009-2-5)

Read more...