EU at 50

Just as the demands for increased female leadership in the EU become more vociferous, a new study reveals that enormous income gaps in some of the Union’s largest countries are hurting women’s chances and having a harmful effect on the economy as a whole. Speaking to German daily, Die Welt, the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, revealed the findings of a recent EU study on wage discrimination, which highlights that women in the Union’s most populous economy, Germany, earn 22% less than their male counterparts in average hourly wage. This makes Germany one of the states with “the highest inequality in the payment of men and women,” Spidla said. Estonia, Cyprus and Slovakia offer a similar bleak picture, with averages the same or slightly higher than the German figure (the EU average is 15%).

Spidla points to the fact that too many German women still choose to work part-time, in jobs that are underpaid, because of the lack of opportunities for child and elderly care. Germany still largely operates as a male-driven society, where the man is the breadwinner and the woman - irrespective of her level of education or opportunities in the work force - stays home. Over the past two administrations, important changes have been made, with the introduction of increased flexibility in childcare, new forms of parental financial support, and greater emphasis on the role of employers, who are losing out on valuable labor. The prospects of demographic decline has hastened the government response to these pressing issues, but at the study proves, results are yet to be felt.

The Financial Times Deutschland (quoted in the English language version of Der Spiegel), also points out the detrimental consequences of a lack of women in the labor force in times when qualified workers are scarce and offers a European comparison:

“Regardless of the discrimination issue, it’s a problem for the economy, which is crying out for skilled employees, if women are thwarted in their careers. That’s what happens if they’re made to choose between having children and having a career. Belgium has excellent child-care provisions — and is among the countries with the lowest wage differentials between men and women in the European Union. Germany is at the other end of the scale. Silent reserves of qualified women could be used here.”

Naturally, a real solution to Germany’s skilled labor problem is a combination of utilizing existing labor resources (i.e. motivating women to return to work after childbirth by offering feasible solutions to combine both work and family) and creating a feasible, flexible labor migration system as proposed through the EU Blue Card. However, changing policies is one thing - changing mentalities is another!

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor, received Europe’s most prestigious honor on May 1: the international Charlemagne Prize. Previous winners include US President Bill Clinton, former EU Commission President Jacques Delors, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and Europe’s “Mr. Foreign Policy,” Javier Solana. None other than French President Nicolas Sarkozy delivered the laudatory address - an interesting choice, given the often fraught relationship between the two that has had some commentators pointing to a notable cooling in the once so warm Franco-German relations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sarkozy spent a good portion of his time basking in the glory of his own rhethoric and professing his “love” for Angela Merkel (in what was almost the political equivalent of Tom Cruise’s couch jumping episode).

Ahead of the French Presidency of the European Union, which begins on July 1, President Sarkozy is trying to portray himself and his agenda in the right (spot)light. Attempting to borrow from Germany’s EU diplomatic toolkit, he has sent his immigration minister, Brice Hortefeux, on a whistle-stop tour of the European capitals in an attempt to forge a compromise on this tenuous policy area, much like the German Chancellor was able to craft an early agreement on environmental policy.

Most recently, he is working toward reminding everyone of his importance in the European construct by withdrawing his support for Tony Blair as the first long-term President of the European Union (following the changes agreed in the Lisbon Reform Treaty). The story is interesting for its potential tactical significance, as it was Sarkozy who first mentioned Blair as a contender when discussions on possible candidates arose a few months ago. Today, member states pencilled in first “substantive” talks about who might assume the bloc’s top job for a summit in Brussels on June 19-20. Sarkozy now argues, there can only be two serious contenders for the job: Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker and current EU Commission President Barroso. But analysts believe that Sarko has not completely dropped Blair from his bracket, and wants to side with whichever candidate looks the most promising as his own Presidency of the Union evolves so that he then can be seen as “king maker”. For now, Sarkozy has ruled Blair out for failing to introduce the Euro and negotiating a series of opt-outs that took Britain further away from the Union, rather than fulfilling his one-time campaign promise, to put his country back into “the heart of Europe.”

The nomination for the EU President and for all subsequent key roles created by the Lisbon Reform Treaty will surely be a new chapter in mature Union diplomacy and extremely interesting to watch. What all EU players need, however, for this process to have its democratic legitimacy (however small), is a resounding “Yes” vote in the Irish referendum on the new Treaty. EU citizens, meanwhile, still want a high-profile figure as the first official “head” of the EU-27 - someone with global clout - and here early surveys are pointing to none other than Tony Blair. For the first time in a long time it looks as if actual EU policy (as opposed to member state haggling) could get interesting - and perhaps even a little dirty.

 Update (March 4, 20 Der Spiegel is reporting that the “cold snap” between the Franco-German partners is thawing, following a “constructive” meeting in which President Sarkozy agreed to a compromise to extend negotiations on a future Mediterranean Union to all 27 EU Member States, not just bordering countries. Quoting the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the Spiegel notes that Chancellor Merkel’s misgivings stemmed not so much from German concerns over the issue, but rather her European perspective of the proposed bloc, which is to closely cooperate on issues pertaining to border security, immigration and Mideast peace. Merkel wants to see the Union built upon the already existing Barcelona Process.

Though both leaders were quick to underline their willingness to compromise and work together on key issues in their joint Hanover statement on March 3rd, the necessity to stress a collaborative mindset alone is an indication that not all is well in the Franco-German tandem.

For France the object of being a driving force in the European Union - as part of the Franco-German tandem - was often ascribed to its desire to continue the self-aggrandizing politicking of “la grande nation” through different means. As the only European nuclear “super power,” the ‘other’ large European power, Germany, rarely had a problem conceding big brother status to France. The partnership has seen its share of vivid imagery borrowed from the world of transportation - the tandem, the motor, the driving force of European integration. Irrespective of personal differences throughout history (Schmidt and Giscard didn’t start out as friends, and Chirac and Schroeder could surely have been more chaleureux) the unwritten rules in European policy making for “the big two” dictated that major advances from either side be checked with the partner on the other side of the Rhein first. All this was surely true until the conclusion of the Nice Treaty negotiations, when Jacques Chirac’s demanding behaviour irked more than just the Germans. While the rift was felt then, the introduction of new players into the constellation (the Weimar triangle, including Poland for one) and the practical bargaining games around a larger table have seemingly let the air out of the tandem’s tires.

Cracks in the veneer began to show around the negotiations for a Constitution for Europe, but tensions sparked over the Turkey question with the last German government, who favored Turkish accession to the Union. While current governments in both country’s are thinking more along the same lines with respect to a further enlargement round to include the big man on the Bosperus, France’s newest advance across it’s bordering waters is raising a few eyebrows in Germany.

In its February 21st edition, The Economist, chronicles the fate of President Sarkozy’s next big idea: the Mediterranean Union. The launch of this ‘grand projet‘ is to fall squarely into the French EU presidency, which starts in the summer, and is intended to tackle non-ideological issues, such as transport, sea safety and to a certain degree border control and immigration. All well, all good, except for ‘la grande question’: Why? EU bordering countries have been closely bound to the Union through the Barcelona Process and the European Neighborhood Policy, thus other EU member states are having a hard time reading Mr. Sarkozy’s project as little more than a prestige object.

Most concerned, according to the Economist are - yes, the Germans:

“Not only did the new union seem devised to exclude them but its relation to the EU has been muddled. At first, the French did not see it as an EU matter. But this, viewed from Berlin, looked like an aggressive move to launch a rival body without following the cherished tradition of Franco-German co-operation. Now that the French have made the launch of the project a quasi-EU event, there is a new concern: finance. Dark voices in Berlin worry that Mr Sarkozy may try to use EU money to take the political credit for projects on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, home to several ex-French colonies.“

Does make you wonder, though, doesn’t it? Whom exactly is Mr. Sarkozy aiming to please?

Even more suspicious to the Germans - Sarkozy is veiling his argumentation in favor of his Mediterranean Union plans in terms of the fabled “avant garde” - essentially the provisions in the new Lisbon Treaty that allow certain countries to move ahead on certain policy areas, paving the way for the much critiqued two-speed Europe (which, to a certain extent already exists through the exemptions of the UK and Denmark on certain social protocols, and in another form in the close cooperation on defence matters among other groups of member states). “Those who want to proceed must be able to do so together,” declared Mr Sarkozy, using a line more commonly deployed by EU enthusiasts against Britain, “but those who don’t want to must not stop the others from moving forward,” the Economist quotes Sarkozy as saying. Needless to say, perhaps, the Germans are not invited to the July 13th meeting, in which he plans to unveil his blueprint for the Mediterranean Union. I have a feeling, a little touch of motor oil will not be enough to keep the Franco-German motor humming, having hit yet another road block.

Additional background information can be found here, here and here.