International

For the first time since the onset of the financial crisis, Brussels seems to be taking a step back from budget fetishism. SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong notes with approval that the European Parliament has at last acknowledged, albeit cautiously, that Europe cannot escape the crisis with austerity measures alone. ‘Even right wing hardliners have been forced to recognise that the ongoing austerity policy has thrown the economy deeper into crisis. Today’s acknowledgement of the importance of public investments and social provisions to address shocks in the economy is a tardy but significant turnaround in the approach to the crisis.’ In the SP’s view the motion represents an important signal to our Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem and his colleagues that a different economic policy must be put on the agenda. It was accompanied, moreover, by the announcement by European Commission President Jose Barroso that he intends to propose a social investment programme.