A Stable Economic System for Europe

AuthorHans-Gert Pöttering
Pages19-22
19
T EA U R, V. 1 N. 0/2014
A Stable Economic System for Europe
Hans-Gert Pöttering*
e economy should serve people; people should not serve the economy” (Adenauer,
1946). Konrad Adenauer coined this phrase in 1946. Just one year after the
end of the devastation of World War II, the Federal Republic of Germany’s
rst Chancellor used these words to describe the path towards a new economic
system in post-war Germany.
And it still applies today, both in Europe and around the globe. We are no
weighed down by wars but by crises, leaving us with the question of how
our economic systems can be made more sustainable and treat people more
fairly1. In the end it comes down to a question of ethics.
- We need to nd answers to ecological challenges as we are polluting
our environment more than ever before.
- We need to restore the nancial sustainability of our countries, as the
debt mountains of the western world present a great burden for our
children’s future.
- And we need to nd ways of countering the social tensions and injustices
that are emerging alongside – and perhaps because of – globalisation.
Decision-makers in Europe have to work together to deal with these dicult
challenges, as they are issues that cannot be dealt with by individual countries
1 For background information see Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Analysen und Argumente,
Wirtschaftspolitische Megatrends bis 2020, August 2008.

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