28 June 2001 Edition
Wooly Wim
EU Commission President Romano Prodi was not the only EU bureaucrat strutting around Dublin last week. European Central Bank (ECB) President Wim Duisenburg was also here speaking at the Irish Central Bank's euro changeover conference. He was here with fellow members of the ECB's governing council, who hold their meetings in different EU capitals twice a year, possibly so we can get a view of EU bureaucracy and powerbroking close up.
It was an interesting exercise because on Thursday, 21 June, Wim told us that it would ``exceed my competence'' to comment on the economic situation in any one particular EU state.
However on Friday, Wim told us that excessive wage increases, increased government spending and unsustainable profit margins in EU states would lead to ``a loss in competitiveness and eventually to a loss in output and employment growth''. Few in the audience didn't believe he was talking about the 26 Counties.
So it turns out that Wim does have an opinion on the Irish economy even though he couldn't bring himself to publicly admit it. It goes to show that secrecy among the unelected decision makers in the EU is such that the right hand really doesn't know what the left is doing.
It was an interesting exercise because on Thursday, 21 June, Wim told us that it would ``exceed my competence'' to comment on the economic situation in any one particular EU state.
However on Friday, Wim told us that excessive wage increases, increased government spending and unsustainable profit margins in EU states would lead to ``a loss in competitiveness and eventually to a loss in output and employment growth''. Few in the audience didn't believe he was talking about the 26 Counties.
So it turns out that Wim does have an opinion on the Irish economy even though he couldn't bring himself to publicly admit it. It goes to show that secrecy among the unelected decision makers in the EU is such that the right hand really doesn't know what the left is doing.