International

Each year the Bertelsmann Foundation, a German thinktank linked to the media giant of the same name, publishes its index of social justice. As in previous years, the latest edition shows that this form of justice remains a distant prospect. In most member states things are still worse than they were before the financial crisis. Little attention is being paid to inequality in society, and poverty is on the rise rather than falling. This isn’t an encouraging picture, and represents a slap in the face for all those budget fetishists like our own Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Not only Bertelsmann, but also the European Commission itself has now come to the conclusion that state investment wouldn’t be such a crazy idea. It’s indeed sad that we can talk of seven lost years in which all member states alike imposed spending cuts and in so doing held back economic recovery. If only people had listened to the SP and in particular the party’s leader Emile Roemer when he stood up against the 3% norm laid down by Brussels.

You wouldn’t think it to look at the glittering palaces of Brussels’ European Quarter, but poverty is a massive problem in Europe. In relatively prosperous countries , such as those of Scandinavia, a ‘mere’ 15% of the population run the risk of falling overboard. In poorer member states like Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, this is true of a third of the people. The Bertelsmann Foundation calls for the establishment of redistribution mechanisms such as housing benefits and child benefits, as well as progressive taxation. The report points to OECD studies, which have previously shown that high rates of inequality have a negative effect on economic growth. And that doesn’t take into account the effect on broad wellbeing in society.

The report from the Bertelsmann Foundation is well worth reading, even if the name of this media tycoon might make you suspect otherwise. It demonstrates that the policies of the European Commission and of successive Dutch governments have failed completely. Not only are there ever more people under pressure as a result of overblown austerity, but increasingly member states can find no answer to enormous poverty. It’s time to change course to more social policies. The European Commission now wants to force a number of member states to invest. In itself I am pleased by the direction this is taking, but it isn’t entirely credible: first of all the Commission forces member states to make huge spending cuts, and now they have to start investing again. In my view, this makes clear only one thing, that Brussels’ economic executive power should be abolished and member states again allowed to determine their own policies. Had that been the case, it’s likely there would be a great deal less poverty in the EU.