Europe in turmoil

BY NOEL G DE SOUZA

Nature, in recent times, has not been kind to Europe. Climate change has caused climatic extremes such as excessive cold weather in winter and snowstorms (particularly in Northern Europe), flooding of its main rivers, and excessive summer heat and forest fires (in several Southern European countries including Greece and Portugal). Europe has also been coping with unprecedented ash effusions from Icelandic volcanoes, resulting in extensive cancelling of airline flights to and from Europe.

The continent is now facing a humancaused malaise of which Greece is only a symptom. Ranking amongst the world’s highest in standards of living, Europe can justifiably boast of having some of the world’s greatest cultural achievements in fields from industrialisation and architecture, to music and the fine arts.

The industrial revolution started in Europe, notably in Britain, and brought prosperity to much of Western Europe. But Europe has now entered a post-industrial phase and it cannot compete with the industrial powerhouses of Asia. This lack of competitiveness means that the continent is no longer as prosperous as it was just fifty years ago, after World War II. Several countries of Western Europe, once dependant on their colonial wealth and markets that the colonies furnished, were able to prosper with their manufacturing industries. This continued for at least two decades in the post-colonial era. In that period (the 1950s and 1960s), Indians and other Commonwealth citizens found easy entry into Britain and that was the foundation for the large South Asian communities who now live in Britain. There is also an Indian community in Portugal and small communities in Switzerland and Germany.

With the passage of time, Commonwealth citizens including Indians and Australians are finding it increasingly difficult to enter and work in Britain. Instead, it is the citizens of the European Union who find themselves free to enter and to work, often to the chagrin of British workers. Likewise, goods originating in Commonwealth countries like Australia’s agricultural products are restricted entry into the European Union, whilst goods from within the Union have free passage.

But European dependence on their manufacturing industries for jobs and wealth has become increasingly difficult because of competition from Asian (including China and India) and other emerging nations (such as Brazil). Simply put, by maintaining their expensive standards of living and particularly