Anyone who criticizes Europe's champion exporter Germany can expect a robust reaction. EU Economic Commissioner Olli Rehn must have been aware of that, but he still seemed surprised at the media storm, even though, as he pointed out in Brussels on Wednesday (13.11.2013), the Commission's report on economic risks in Europe has not even been formally agreed yet.
Germany has had a trade surplus for years - last year it exported 190 billion euros ($256 billion) worth of goods and services more than it imported. Rehn said that the EU Commission considers that a sign of a structural weakness, an imbalance that needs to be looked at.
That really annoys Heribert Reul, a German Christian Democrat member of the European Parliament. "German export success is based on competitive products," he says. "Putting the brakes on the European locomotive would throw the whole of Europe backwards."
Barroso said several times during his press conference that it wasn't a matter of putting the brakes on Germany or even of punishing it - the Commission was merely looking into economic developments, as it is required to do by EU treaties. And it's not just Germany that was affected: 15 other states were also under investigation.
"This should not be perceived as Europe being in disagreement with Germany's competitiveness," said Barroso, trying to calm the waters. "On the contrary, it's very good for Germany and certainly for Europe that Germany remains such a competitive country with such export-oriented growth." And he added that the crisis countries could learn from Germany: "We would like to have more Germanys in Europe."
Note EU-Digest: Come on Mr. Rehn - please don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs...
Read nmore: EU probes German exports | Europe | DW.DE | 15.11.2013
Germany has had a trade surplus for years - last year it exported 190 billion euros ($256 billion) worth of goods and services more than it imported. Rehn said that the EU Commission considers that a sign of a structural weakness, an imbalance that needs to be looked at.
That really annoys Heribert Reul, a German Christian Democrat member of the European Parliament. "German export success is based on competitive products," he says. "Putting the brakes on the European locomotive would throw the whole of Europe backwards."
Barroso said several times during his press conference that it wasn't a matter of putting the brakes on Germany or even of punishing it - the Commission was merely looking into economic developments, as it is required to do by EU treaties. And it's not just Germany that was affected: 15 other states were also under investigation.
"This should not be perceived as Europe being in disagreement with Germany's competitiveness," said Barroso, trying to calm the waters. "On the contrary, it's very good for Germany and certainly for Europe that Germany remains such a competitive country with such export-oriented growth." And he added that the crisis countries could learn from Germany: "We would like to have more Germanys in Europe."
Note EU-Digest: Come on Mr. Rehn - please don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs...
Read nmore: EU probes German exports | Europe | DW.DE | 15.11.2013
No comments:
Post a Comment