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par13del wrote:So why cant France force other EU members to match their cost / benefits, this principle works well with countries outside and within the EU so.....whats the problem?
By ensuring that all member nations pay the same France would be ensuring that the playing field is level, no race to the bottom and all workers across the EU would be treated the same and enjoy the highest standard of living.
FrancisBegbie wrote:par13del wrote:So why cant France force other EU members to match their cost / benefits, this principle works well with countries outside and within the EU so.....whats the problem?
By ensuring that all member nations pay the same France would be ensuring that the playing field is level, no race to the bottom and all workers across the EU would be treated the same and enjoy the highest standard of living.
Because taxation is not centrally organized in the EU. Taxation/social security is very much part of a country/culture’s DNA. And within the EU, different nations think very differently on how it should be organized (and about compliance with the agreed rules. But let’s not get into that minefield just yet).
The EU has a very small role to play in further harmonizing taxation, because of their approach. Instead of focusing on harmonizing nations’ taxation (difficult enough), lately Brussels tries to federalize taxation. That way they antagonize every member state...
par13del wrote:By ensuring that all member nations pay the same France would be ensuring that the playing field is level, no race to the bottom and all workers across the EU would be treated the same and enjoy the highest standard of living.
fodar wrote:In an interview in Les Echos dated 15 May, Mr. Janaillac says (my translation):
"The French state will have a role to play in enabling Air France to improve its competitiveness."
MIflyer12 wrote:fodar wrote:In an interview in Les Echos dated 15 May, Mr. Janaillac says (my translation):
"The French state will have a role to play in enabling Air France to improve its competitiveness."
That's an indirect request for government subsidy. Watch for it.
par13del wrote:So why cant France force other EU members to match their cost / benefits, this principle works well with countries outside and within the EU so.....whats the problem?
By ensuring that all member nations pay the same France would be ensuring that the playing field is level, no race to the bottom and all workers across the EU would be treated the same and enjoy the highest standard of living.
senatorflyer wrote:France was and is always known to have very high social security employer contributions.
terrificturk wrote:par13del wrote:So why cant France force other EU members to match their cost / benefits, this principle works well with countries outside and within the EU so.....whats the problem?
By ensuring that all member nations pay the same France would be ensuring that the playing field is level, no race to the bottom and all workers across the EU would be treated the same and enjoy the highest standard of living.
The problem is that France does not have the highest standard of living in Europe. Far from it.
A lot of other member states achieve far higher standards with less input. As others have pointed out, it is France's social security system that is inefficient and requires high tax contributions to survive. Efficiency as a whole is not a french thing.
Looking at cost of living and standard of living, you will see that Scandinavia is doing pretty well, albeit with highest tax paid, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland (not EU, but Europe) all do fairly well with less tax and have a higher standard of living, esp. southern german states (Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria) and Switzerland... it goes without saying that these countries are Masters in Efficiency...
mercure1 wrote:
The notion that things can be equalized across the entire EU is naive, no more than expecting things in Charleston South Carolina can be aligned with San Francisco California.
par13del wrote:So why cant France force other EU members to match their cost / benefits, this principle works well with countries outside and within the EU so.....whats the problem?
By ensuring that all member nations pay the same France would be ensuring that the playing field is level, no race to the bottom and all workers across the EU would be treated the same and enjoy the highest standard of living.
fodar wrote:If so, are the German methods of delivering benefits that much more efficient than their French counterparts (maybe due to other government spending, such as the significantly different level of military spending)?
IPFreely wrote:On a per-capita basis, French military spending is 511 euros per person and German military spending is 448 euros per person. Both are well under 2% of each countries' GDP. The evidence clearly shows both the public and private sectors are more efficient in Germany than France. But military spending is not the reason -- it's insignificant in both countries.