[P2P-F] Fwd: [Networkedlabour] New Primer: Unpacking Competitiveness

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sol Trumbo Vila <soltrumbovila at tni.org>
Date: Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 5:01 PM
Subject: [Networkedlabour] New Primer: Unpacking Competitiveness
To: networkedlabour at lists.contrast.org


 *Whoever will be the next Commission president, competitiveness wins.*

Regardless of the final result of the negotiations to elect the next
European Commission President, one word will be constantly repeated as a
priority for EU policies, “Competitiveness”.

The Competitiveness Pact is the final stage of the new EU economic
governance architecture. In this report elaborated by Transnational
Institute (TNI) and the Attac network we expose the myths and reality
surrounding competitiveness – and what it really means for the lives of
Europeans.

*Check out the primer here:*
http://www.tni.org/briefing/unpacking-competitiveness

In recent years EU institutions have developed legislation at unprecedented
speed. After the series of new treaties (the ‘two-pack’, ‘six-pack’ and
fiscal compact), the Competitiveness Pact is the next step in demanding
member states follow a specific policy agenda. After years of austerity
failing to deliver the expected results, ‘competitiveness’ has become more
important to the EU’s strategy to overcome the European crisis.

Competitiveness is often mentioned by the European Commission and the media
in a positive way, but without disclosing what hides behind the phrase. The
structural adjustment programs implemented in the countries under the
Troika regime, which prioritise ‘fiscal consolidation and boosting
competitiveness’, have been used to push austerity policies, privatisations
and the weakening of social and labour rights.

*This report answers 9 critical questions:*

1.    *What do we understand by competitiveness?*

2.          *What does competitiveness mean for the European institutions? *

3.          *What is the Competitiveness Pact? *

4.          *Who or what are the interests behind the pact?*

5.          *What are the main criticisms?*

6.          *What is the current status of the pact?*

7.          *What might break the Competitiveness Pact?*

8.          *What would be the consequences of failure to enact the
Competitiveness Pact?*

9.          *What opportunities would the blocking of the Competitiveness
Pact offer for European social movements? *
We hope this primer will help to open the debate on what are the effects of
the oncoming EU policy proposals, who benefits, and the implications for
the Europeans.

 *Photo credit: European Parliament
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/european_parliament/7979253698/> / Foter
<http://foter.com/> / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/>*

-- 
Sol Trumbo Vila
Project Coordinator - EU Economic Governance
Transnational Institute (TNI)soltrumbovila at tni.org - @Soltrumbo
+31 20 662 66 08






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