Soon Everything 'On Pump'?

Arming for war will force Germany to pursue a massive debt policy

Despite the haggling behind the scenes over the past few weeks, the EU Commission had no other alternative but to admonish Germany - the EU's no.1 economic power house - for its catastrophic budget situation. Germany cannot meet the EU's stability criteria.

Rl. The EU commission was faced with a dilemma. The economically strongest EU member is hardly able to meet the EU's own stability criteria. Germany's debt no longer satisfies the stability criteria laid down by the EU itself. The European Commission had the choice: either ignore the facts and thus offend all the other smaller countries who were scolded for their negative balance sheets, or reprimand its largest paying member and by doing so admit that things are not quite so rosy in the EU after all.

In the last few weeks a power struggle has taken place behind the scenes. Schröder's government in Germany wanted to avoid the disgrace of a poor financial policy during the election campaign year. In particular, the reputation of Germany's 'savings minister' Hans Eichel should be spared such a reprimand. On the other hand, the European Commission did not want to appear too lax. Pedro Solbe, the Spanish EU finance commissioner, admitted that the past two weeks had been very intense ones. Solbe's advice to Berlin: further privatization!

Yet Schröder's government has long been pursuing this course. Everything they can get their hands on is being sold to dress up the balance sheets and finance tax cuts for the election campaign. What happened to the profits from the sale of the postal service, the profits from the sale of the rail service, and from the sale of federal property, of UTMS rights, etc.? Where has all the public property gone? There are no longer any regular sources of income with which to cover additional expenses. And yet the German government still wants the EU's eastward expansion. According to the EU's own estimate, this will cost an additional 40 billion euros until 2006, and more expenditures is needed to enlarge the army (with the A400M transporters, for example), and for the 'security forces' in Kosovo, Macedonia and Afghanistan. And there is no telling what other armed conflict adventures will take place in the Near East.

The government is saving on education, the public health system and the welfare state. The Spanish EU finance minister's criticism (who elected him actually?) seems cynical against the background of the failed European and German policies. In effect, his patronizing reprimand means that money will be saved where it is needed most to satisfy the all-pervading power fantasies of just a few. The right way is not privatization, but a balanced financial policy based on the well-being of one's own citizens.