Abstract:
As a consequence of the financial, economic and social crisis, the economy now lies at the heart of much of the public debate in Europe. Business competitiveness, consolidation of government finance, structural reform - buzzwords that worry or reassure - these expressions punctuate the speeches made by European political leaders, often without their meaning being defined however. With electoral campaigns and news programmes people have become familiar with a language that for most used to be of distant concern in their daily lives. Although we know about the positions of political leaders, economists and other intellectuals and although Franco-German divergence over economic issues has been clearly identified, we know less about what economic players are expecting - whilst they represent a major part of civil society and the issues being debated involve them first and foremost.
The full text of the analysis is available in English on the website of the Robert Schuman Foundation.
The analysis is also available in French.