Europe wants to escape the nightmare of "austerity"

The Italian prime minister is on a tour of several European countries to lobby for a regional economic stimulus package.

Speaking after talks with French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said he was still steadfast in the European Union's debt reduction target for the country. However, according to Mr. Letta, the determination in implementing austerity policies must now be applied to growth policies.

Agreeing with this view, French President Francois Hollande said that now is the time for Europe to shift to economic growth and employment, especially for young people, who make up the majority of Europe's record unemployment due to the public debt crisis in recent years.

But in Berlin, Germany, the EU's biggest creditor, Letta's call received a more cautious response. Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "For us in Germany, budget consolidation and growth are not contradictory, they go hand in hand. We can both create greater competitiveness and create more jobs. Our proposal for medium-term fiscal stability is being discussed in the Bundestag. In it, we point out that fighting record unemployment is a key issue for Europe. We want to make sure that as much as we invest, companies can operate freely and be ready to create more jobs."

After Germany and France, today Mr. Letta is in Brussels, Belgium, to meet with European leaders, urging the implementation of economic development policies across the region.

Analysts say that Mr. Letta’s European tour is a lobbying effort to promote a shift to growth policy. This was originally a proposal from France but was repeatedly pushed aside because the budget conditions of the struggling countries could not meet the requirements of simultaneously boosting spending to stimulate the economy and “tightening the purse strings” to continue to bring public debt to a safe level. The rationale for promoting growth is clear, but the remaining question is whether the struggling countries in Europe are ready to welcome a new wind./.

According to VOV - DT