Czech President: Eight measures that could save Europe

Czech President Václav Klaus is just about the only European leader who dares to tell the truth about the present state of the euro and the European Union. And he knows what should be done in order to make the necessary changes: 

.. there is time for a fundamental decision: should we continue believing in the dogma that politics can dictate economics and continue defending the common currency at whatever costs or should we finally accept that we have to return to economic rationality?

The answer to such a question given by the overwhelming majority of European politicians has been until now YES, we should continue. Our task is to tell them that the consequences of such a policy will be higher and higher costs for all of us. At one moment, these costs will become intolerable and unbearable.

We should say NO. The European politicians should be forced to admit that we find ourselves in a blind alley and that in such a case the only possible way out is the way back.

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Europeans should say NO and start introducing radical systemic changes which have to include the following measures:

1. Europe has to get rid of the unproductive and paternalistic soziale Marktwirtschaft, “augmented” (which means further undermined) by the growing role of the green ideology.

2. Europe should accept that the economic adjustment processes take time and thatthe impatient politicians and governments usually make things worse. The politicians should not try to mastermind the markets, to micromanage the economy, to “produce” growth by government stimuli and incentives.

3. Europe should start preparing comprehensive reductions of government spending and forget flirting with solutions based on tax increases. The reductions must dominantly deal with mandatory expenditures, because discretionary spending cuts are – as a long term solution – quantitatively more or less insignificant.

4. Europe should interrupt the creeping, but constantly expanding green legislation.The Greens must be stopped from taking over much of our economy under the banner of such flawed ideas as the global warming doctrine.

5. Europe should get rid of the excessive centralization, harmonization, standardization of the continent and after half a century of such measures start decentralizing, deregulating and desubsidizing its society and economy.

6.Europe should make it possible for countries which are the victims of the European monetary union to leave it and to return to their own monetary arrangements.

7.Europe should forget such plans as a fiscal union or a banking union, not to speak about antidemocratic ambitions to politically unify the whole continent.

8. Europe should return to democracy which can exist only at the level of nation-states, not at the level of the whole continent. It requires returning from supranationalism to intergovernmentalism.

Read the entire speech here