Protectionist EU chokes growth by Lorne Gunther
"Beware the Polish plumbers." That was a popular enjoinder used by the "No" forces in last year's French vote on the European constitution.
French voters rejected the pan-European law partly because they feared an onslaught of Polish plumbers should the 25-member European Union adopt a single set of statutes. The French were not worried that Polish plumbers are less qualified than French ones, although that was suggested. Rather, they worried that a universal European constitution would force Paris to weaken protectionist laws against out-of-country labour. Then Polish plumbers and Czech hairdressers and Latvian truck drivers would flood France and threaten the jobs of notoriously underproductive and overpaid French workers, not to mention their 35-hour work week, lavish benefits and annual, month-long August vacations.
Foreign workers would upset French workers' cushy little apple cart by working longer, harder and for more rational wages. But it's not just the French. While the British and Irish strongly favour such EU trade-liberalization initiatives as the "services directive," which would ease rules for small businesses from one EU member state setting up in any other and eliminate most cross-border labour regulations -- France, Germany and Austria are adamantly opposed. And their adamantine position is one of the biggest reasons the economies of "old Europe" are so stagnant, why unemployment within Europe is twice or more what it is in North America.
During the past decade, Canada's economy has grown by 44 per cent and the Americans' 41. Meanwhile, France has seen a 22-per-cent rise and Germany only 14.
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