Word: europeanate
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...past couple of years haven't been kind to the European Union: it's been battered by the recession, buffeted by the Greek debt crisis and bypassed by a host of dynamic, emerging nations. The E.U. is desperate for a magic potion to revitalize its creaking economy, but it may have to settle for something less dramatic. On Wednesday, the European Commission will unveil a 10-year plan outlining the first tentative steps toward forming a common economic policy. The "Europe 2020" strategy is being touted as a way to boost competitiveness and growth over the next decade. Skeptics, however...
...recovery from recession has been fragile and slow - the bloc is only forecast to grow by an anemic 0.7% this year. José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, warns that Europe risks a "lost decade" of stagnation and decline if it does not act boldly now to modernize its model of socially inclusive capitalism. The Europe 2020 plan focuses on honing the E.U.'s technological edge, especially in green industries, and on improving higher education. And it sets key targets for E.U. member states, including raising the overall employment rate from 69% to 75%, boosting investment in research...
...there are already doubts about whether a 10-year bureaucratic plan can really turn the E.U. economy around. "These strategies are full of beautiful but nebulous words," says Jacques Pelkmans, a senior research fellow at the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a Brussels-based think tank. "We shouldn't expect Chinese growth rates, and we should not raise hopes we cannot meet...
...political splits on issues like opening up labor markets. But another issue was that E.U. leaders were simply unwilling to overhaul their economies - and there was no enforcement mechanism in place to put them into line. Ann Mettler, head of the Lisbon Council, a Brussels-based think tank, says European leaders have been too cautious about reform, backing off, for example, when it comes to tackling energy oligopolies and inefficient, formerly state-run telecom operators. "We are in a state of crisis," she says. "We can't just have a battery of lofty goals and feel-good measures. We need...
...That's why Gates is trying hard to shake the Europeans out of a sense that a robust military capability is a relic of the 20th century. If they continue on their current path, after all, European NATO members may actually succeed in doing what Moscow never could: render the 61-year-old alliance a paper tiger...