Jonas De Meyer, intern at UNRIC, Benelux countries & EU institutions desk, in Brussels
Whereas six months ago the economic prospects were gloomy but hope was still alive, today it is clear that the economic crisis has struck Belgium as well. Luckily, Belgium may benefit from the shelter the Euro one offers and it is surely not the hardest hit among the countries in the Eurozone. Ireland, Spain and the UK are in a much worse state with the first two struggling with the consequences of their inflated property bubbles and the latter kicking the habit of the cheap credit it lived on. In Eastern Europe, countries such as Latvia, Bulgaria and Hungary are due for a bumpy road to recovery.
The economic crisis has made Belgian companies use a system of ‘temporary unemployment’ en masse, as the 86.1 percent increase of ‘temporary unemployed’ people reported by De Standard illustrates. The negative economic climate is mostly felt in the north of the country, Flanders, where total unemployment is up by a startling 7.1 percent and job offers are down by 23.6 percent. Brussels and the south of the country have not reported any increase in their unemployment figures, which were already high. But this may change. Among the unemployed are a lot of young people – they are probably those most affected victims by the crisis so far. Recent graduates or young people with little experience are laid off first under the principle ‘last in-first out’ or find it extremely hard to compete for the few jobs that are still left on the market. The Flemish employment service VDAB announced an increase of 31.2 percent more young people without a job in February compared to the year before. It is especially the speed at which this phenomenon is striking that is scary; only five months ago no increase was reported. A strange observation is the significant difference between high and low skilled young graduates; whereas the number of young unemployed with only a high school certificate increased by 13.1 percent, the number of young unemployed people with a university degree climbed by more than 21 percent.
Recent estimates from the Belgian High Council for Finances, an advisory board for the finances of the Belgian government, announced that due to the economic crisis the national debt is about to rise from the already high 85 percent to 100 percent of Belgium’s GDP. This not only means that a large part of the future budgets of the state will be dedicated to debt relief, it also means that, once again, this is extremely bad news for young people as the burden of the repayments, the so-called ‘interest snowball,’ will fall on their shoulders for many years to come. This adds to the other burdens that young people were already supposed to shoulder, such as paying the pensions for the huge amount of people that are about to retire. The Belgian system is constructed in such a way that the State pays for the pensions of retired workers entirely by taxing the active workforce.
Many people believe society now finds itself at a crucial turning point: going on as we have been, preserving the status quo and trying to tackle problems with old-fashioned and outdated responses, or thinking ahead and outside-of-the-box so that today’s and tomorrow’s problems are addressed by durable solutions that take long-term perspective and forecasts into account. A good example of such a solution for today’s economic crisis can be found in the ‘Green New Deal,’ an answer to several crises at the same time, advocated by the United Nations and its Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon since 2008. It entails focusing investments on green innovative technologies, which serve many purposes. A significant expansion of the renewable energy industry (windmills, water and tidal, and solar power) would not only create a lot of durable new jobs, but would also make us less reliant on fossil fuels and thus help combat climate change and provide more energy security. Another effective ad hoc measure of the ‘Green New Deal’ that tackles the financial and climate crises at the same time is investing heavily in the insulation of houses. Once again, it creates new employment and lowers energy consumption that results in gains for the climate as well as the household budget. Green answers are not old-fashioned but innovative, durable and efficient and much needed for the future of our world. That is why Ban Ki-moon advocated the ‘Green New Deal’ during the recent G-20 summit in London. At the end of 2008, former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme had to admit that he had never heard of a ‘Green New Deal’ before. Therefore, it seems that Ban Ki-moon still has some work to do… ■
Whereas six months ago the economic prospects were gloomy but hope was still alive, today it is clear that the economic crisis has struck Belgium as well. Luckily, Belgium may benefit from the shelter the Euro one offers and it is surely not the hardest hit among the countries in the Eurozone. Ireland, Spain and the UK are in a much worse state with the first two struggling with the consequences of their inflated property bubbles and the latter kicking the habit of the cheap credit it lived on. In Eastern Europe, countries such as Latvia, Bulgaria and Hungary are due for a bumpy road to recovery.
The economic crisis has made Belgian companies use a system of ‘temporary unemployment’ en masse, as the 86.1 percent increase of ‘temporary unemployed’ people reported by De Standard illustrates. The negative economic climate is mostly felt in the north of the country, Flanders, where total unemployment is up by a startling 7.1 percent and job offers are down by 23.6 percent. Brussels and the south of the country have not reported any increase in their unemployment figures, which were already high. But this may change. Among the unemployed are a lot of young people – they are probably those most affected victims by the crisis so far. Recent graduates or young people with little experience are laid off first under the principle ‘last in-first out’ or find it extremely hard to compete for the few jobs that are still left on the market. The Flemish employment service VDAB announced an increase of 31.2 percent more young people without a job in February compared to the year before. It is especially the speed at which this phenomenon is striking that is scary; only five months ago no increase was reported. A strange observation is the significant difference between high and low skilled young graduates; whereas the number of young unemployed with only a high school certificate increased by 13.1 percent, the number of young unemployed people with a university degree climbed by more than 21 percent.
Recent estimates from the Belgian High Council for Finances, an advisory board for the finances of the Belgian government, announced that due to the economic crisis the national debt is about to rise from the already high 85 percent to 100 percent of Belgium’s GDP. This not only means that a large part of the future budgets of the state will be dedicated to debt relief, it also means that, once again, this is extremely bad news for young people as the burden of the repayments, the so-called ‘interest snowball,’ will fall on their shoulders for many years to come. This adds to the other burdens that young people were already supposed to shoulder, such as paying the pensions for the huge amount of people that are about to retire. The Belgian system is constructed in such a way that the State pays for the pensions of retired workers entirely by taxing the active workforce.
Many people believe society now finds itself at a crucial turning point: going on as we have been, preserving the status quo and trying to tackle problems with old-fashioned and outdated responses, or thinking ahead and outside-of-the-box so that today’s and tomorrow’s problems are addressed by durable solutions that take long-term perspective and forecasts into account. A good example of such a solution for today’s economic crisis can be found in the ‘Green New Deal,’ an answer to several crises at the same time, advocated by the United Nations and its Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon since 2008. It entails focusing investments on green innovative technologies, which serve many purposes. A significant expansion of the renewable energy industry (windmills, water and tidal, and solar power) would not only create a lot of durable new jobs, but would also make us less reliant on fossil fuels and thus help combat climate change and provide more energy security. Another effective ad hoc measure of the ‘Green New Deal’ that tackles the financial and climate crises at the same time is investing heavily in the insulation of houses. Once again, it creates new employment and lowers energy consumption that results in gains for the climate as well as the household budget. Green answers are not old-fashioned but innovative, durable and efficient and much needed for the future of our world. That is why Ban Ki-moon advocated the ‘Green New Deal’ during the recent G-20 summit in London. At the end of 2008, former Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme had to admit that he had never heard of a ‘Green New Deal’ before. Therefore, it seems that Ban Ki-moon still has some work to do… ■
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