The economic history of the European Union (EU)
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- Open letter from European economists to the
heads of government of the 15 member states of the European
Union
- Published 12 June 1997 in several European papers. The
current design of Europe's economy does not provide
adequate prospects of reining in high unemployment, poverty,
social marginalisation and ecological deterioration. The key
question is whether the current plans for further European
integration, and in particular for the EMU, will bring us
closer to solutions.
- Extract from
For a different
Europe
- By Adam Novak, in International Viewpoint, 19
September 1997. Social consequences of Maastrict convergence
being based on fiscal vs. social criteria.
- My vision of an open Europe
- By George Soros, London Times, 5 November
1997. Neoliberal critique of Maastrict
Cartesianism,
by the person who bears much responsibility for the world
financial crisis of 1997.
- Bananas: the workers lose out
- By André Linard, ICFTU Online ..., 26
November 1997. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has
ordered the European Union to remove its quotas on banana
imports. The U.S. whose multinationals control many
dollar-zone plantations won their case at the WTO, and the
European Union announced it will abide by the decision, to
the anger of the ACP producers and their governments.
- New currency, more austerity: Selling out to
the euro
- By Laurent Carroué, Le Monde diplomatique,
January 1999. On 1 January 1999, the euro formally replaced
the national currencies of 11 European countries. For a time
it seemed that Europe's governments might use monetary
union to co-ordinate a programme for growth and job
creation. Instead they handed control of the economy to the
new central bank, depriving voters of a say in how
Europe's economy is run.
- The euro: What change in global
balance?
- By Andy McInerney, Workers World, 14 January
1999. The euro, enaugurated January 1, marks another step by
the capitalists in 11 countries toward a plan of economic
unity set out in the so-called Maastricht treaty of
1991. What does the euro mean for the European working
class?