In recent weeks, I was involved in an exercise to prepare a report for the European Parliament’s plenary in Strasbourg, discussing the Commission’s recommendations to member states about the management of their economy. I thought it would make good sense to concentrate on the investment scene rather than discuss broadly all relevant economic factors,
The approach turned out to be worthwhile. I got to know better how the investment dearth that exists as of now in Europe is perhaps the deep economic question that the continent must face up to. Investment dearth is hugely a root cause for the relative economic stagnation of past years.
How shall it be overcome?
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Air Malta
It was inevitable that negotiations towards a “final” solution of Air Malta’s difficulties would take time. Too much perhaps? It could be awkward if they had to be concluded in the period when Malta is at the Presidency of the EU, though there are people who believe this would help to get quicker approval from European watchdogs for conclusive arrangements.
Understandably, delays will continue to feed the anxiety of the company’s employees. On the other hand, the government is doing well to take as much time as is necessary (subject to the leeway allowed by the European Commission) in order to achieve the best possible outcome in existing circumstances. One problem definitely is that all available options will be most painful.
Air Malta’s challenge (if that is still the right word to use) is that it carries the burden of bad governance dating from long ago, following which the burden of weak governance, during which what needed to be done was not.
Today, Air Malta is caught in the press of hard decisions that need to be taken, in the knowledge that none of them can provide a hundred (or is it even sixty?) per cent guarantee about the company’s survival.
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Schulz
What is going to be the future of Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament?
By end year, his mandate will come to an end and according to the arrangements which it is said, have been made, his post will be taken up by someone else, probably a member of the European Popular Party. Socialists and others disagree. They claim that Schulz should stay on as EP president, not least to maintain a political balance in top European posts. However, according to others, this view overlooks the fact that the EC vice president responsible for foreign affairs as well as the president of the ministerial group in charge of eurozone management, the eurogroup, come from the left.
Beyond the arguments related to political balance within the institutions, it is probable that there are too many MEPs who dislike Schulz and would like to seek him go.
Another way out is being mentioned for him. He could be chosen as the candidate for chancellor of the socialist party (SPD) in next year’s German federal elections. A number of SPD leading lights disagree that the current President of their party Sigmar Gabriel should be the candidate. So instead, Schulz’s name has been mooted.
If both options turn out to be deadends, what is Schulz going to do? Whatever your opinion of him is, if he is no longer around, his ability and initiative would be sorely missed.