EU austerity faces rising public anger
Brussels, Belgium – Outside the European Commission in Brussels late last month dozens of horn-blowing tractors from Belgium rolled ominously down roads usually reserved for the limousines belonging to this continent’s powerful politicians.
Accompanied by throngs of demonstrators and surrounded by smoking hay stacks and burning effigies of leaders such as Germany’s Angela Merkel, the roughly 4,000 participants had travelled from across the region to protest against a bureaucratic elite that a growing number of Europeans feel have for too long ignored the interests of everyday people.
After half a decade of public spending cuts, job losses, and poor wage growth, Europe is barely emerging from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
There are almost 25 million unemployed people still living in the 28-member bloc, inequality is rising in many member states, and the region on Wednesday officially entered a period of deflation.
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